Rearranging the Board
by Zatroopa
Summary: It wasn't that Weiss was totally unhappy with her team. After all, she had the famous Pyrrha Nikos fighting alongside her, and Ruby seemed to have more than a fair amount of combat skill. It was just that Team JPWR would be much more efficient, had Ruby not been made leader, and a certain Jaune Arc was absent from the team. That was just her opinion, of course.
1. Wake-Up Call

**Basically, this is an AU where Teams RWBY and JNPR get swapped around and instead we get Ruby, Weiss, Jaune and Pyrrha in a team (JPWR) and Blake, Yang, Nora and Ren in the other (BRNY). There are going to be a few snippets of varying length, depending on the subject matter, so hopefully you all enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or its characters.**

* * *

Weiss Schnee wasn't a morning person.

No. That wouldn't be fair to say. There were many occasions where she had gotten up nice and early, even if they involved being told tragic news about friends and family, and she was never the sort to stay in bed for its own sake. It was just that, when waking up to the sound of birds chirping, a whistle to the ear was not the most welcome sensation. In fact, it ranked around the bottom, right next to a heart monitor's beeps.

Ruby Rose, on the other hand, seemed to be enough of a morning person to have woken up, get dressed, and decide that her moral mission was to deafen her partner by any means necessary. A clear sign that Team JPWR (a.k.a Jasper, in Beacon Academy's lesser moment in team-naming history) was headed for the rocks before it even set sail. _Oh joy to Remnant._ Weiss thought to herself, looking to the only other competent-member of the team in despair. _How have you not gone mad already?_

It was an injustice! How did Ruby come into the leadership, when two far more qualified students were waiting in the wings? She could understand Jaune being passed over, having the good-naturedness of a Huntsman meant nothing if that was the only talent, but not someone who had trained for years upon years for the chance to show the world what she was able to do. To cut down demonic Grimm and the blood-thirsty Faunus of the White Fang required a modicum of qualifications, which included the leadership that she deserved most!

Okay, maybe not the most, but second wasn't too bad. Unless you were Weiss' father, in which case it was stated with a questioning tone, a clear reminder that first wasn't attained. Still, not even her father would claim that Pyrrha Nikos was not a worthy name to serve under, in the fight against forces that wished to consume humanity.

Top graduate of her class, Breaker of Records, Four-Time Winner of the Mistral Regional Tournament, Ms Pumpkin Pete, P-Money, the list of achievements and titles goes on.

Her skill with a weapon was only matched by her goodwill, her obvious disappointment of being passed over easily masked by kind words to both Ruby, admittedly a prodigy in her own right, and to Jaune, who could come up with a decent plan. Such skills were something that a leader needed. To be able to sooth tensions, to guide the way for their team to move forward on, to make those who fell behind move forward with fair but firm advice.

Only now JPWR was in the hands of a madwoman. Crushed under a despotic regime of cookie crumbs and sugar overdoses, Weiss was not sure how she would be able to survive the rule of a girl like Ruby Rose.

"Good morning Team Jasper!" Ruby all but shouted, the ringing in Weiss' ears now gaining an accompanying band.

"Ruby, I think if you go any louder, Weiss' ears are gonna start bleeding." A male voice said, submissive enough that the Red Tyrant (as Weiss now saw Ms Rose) seemed to be swayed by his words.

"Good point, Jaune. Operation Unpack and Decorate is going to need all of us in top-shape." Ruby's chubby cheeks was soon matching her skirt in colour, so great was her excitement in whatever complex scheme she ha-

Operation Unpack and Decorate?

That sounded rather normal and sensible. Weiss narrowed her eyes, searching her mind for whatever foul tricks the Red Tyrant had planned for them. _What's the catch here? Am I going to have to deal with Jaune's attempts at flirting again? Please, do not let that be the catch._

Jaune Arc had got it into his head that he and Weiss could ever be a couple, when it had the same chance of the White Fang swearing off murder and Ruby's older sister shaving herself bald at the exact same moment. From the time Team JPWR was announced and them going to bed, there had been a barrage of Snow Angels and poorly-disguised pleas for a single date, after the former ended by threat of murder via Myrtenaster. It was enough to drive her mad.

At least Pyrrha seemed to emphasise with her, the pitying looks she gave the whole time. She probably had to deal with the same thing back in Sanctum, an army of admirers must have had some fanatics among them, which would be a great help in dealing with tall, blonde and scraggly.

"Do you need any help, Weiss?" Pyrrha asked, lending a hand to Weiss, the latter now realising that she was still on the floor. "I noticed that you brought a lot of stuff. If you don't mind me saying so, I know that a lot of that was just Dust for Myrtenaster, but you did seem to have some portraits and-"

"It's fine. I placed them in the closet, so getting them out should be easy." Weiss said, quickly picking herself up from the floor and looking gratefully at her fellow victim. "It's kind of you to offer though, Pyrrha."

"I thought you looked a bit uneasy. You didn't eat much at dinner yesterday, I was a bit worried for you." Pyrrha explained, her concern making Weiss turn red. Her thoughts had been so filled with brooding over injustice, she had barely touched food when compared to her teammates.

"A bit of nerves, I assure you. We're getting to the hard part now." A false smile was plastered on her face, with hints of truth. Weiss did feel nervous about explaining to her father on how she failed to become leader of Team JPWR and their leader's character.

_I'll do it when he's visiting Winter. He's warmer during those times._ By warmer, Weiss meant that death from hypothermia was not an instant reaction to speaking with the head of the SDC, but it was good enough for her.

"If you're feeling nervous, you can always talk to me o-"

The team-bonding had been interrupted by a terrible noise, piercing at Weiss' ears and having all but one member of Team JWPR move to cover their ears from sheer agony. The culprit was one Ruby Rose, who Weiss could have sworn looked upset for a second, before her face returned to that of caffeine-fuelled joy and happiness. _Probably from seeing us suffer under her despotism._ Weiss thought, with a bitter strain.

"Come on, team. We need to get this room to meet maximum fun standards quick." Ruby said, before giving off the most innocent smirk Weiss had ever seen. "We wouldn't want to be late to class and ruin our record would we, Weiss?"

That girl was evil. No matter how many cookies she consumed.

"Now then," Ruby continued, moving towards her bed before she pulled out a chart from under it. The light of day allowing the crudely-drawn designs to partially show themselves to Weiss, a sinking feeling reaching her stomach. "How do we all feel about bunk beds?"

_We did always want them, back when we were little._ Weiss thought to herself. _Oh who am I kidding? I'll be dead from a heart attack in six months, at this rate._


	2. Building a Team

**Chapter two and this one has a few more feels and sadtimes than the previous chapter, basically between Ruby and Weiss in this fic's version of Badge and Burden. A lot longer, but I think you guys will be fine with that, even if the next few ones are shorter or longer, depending on the topic matter. Hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

A week had passed since the formation of Team JPWR and things were beginning to deteriorate for Weiss.

It had started out so well, despite the efforts of the Red Tyrant. A compromise on bed arrangements had been made, brought about by Jaune's fear of crushing someone, or being crushed himself, with a top bunk, wherein there was one bunk bed and the team would rotate beds each night. They agreed that it would prepare them for missions, where they may have to get used to lesser-quality beds, in the event that they weren't in the field but had to maintain cover.

Not even Jaune would buy that. Weiss admitted to herself, ready to think of where it all went wrong before Ruby cut her off.

"You don't respect me as a leader." Ruby said, in a tone that barely resembled her peppy self. They were in their dorm room and Weiss had been trying to work on her bit for JPWR's Grimm Studies' project and waiting for Pyrrha to get back from moulding Jaune into more than a sub-standard swordsman, when Ruby began insisting that she could help.

Attempts at polite dissuasion had failed miserably. Somehow, they made Ruby upset, rather than anything else.

"What are you talking about?" Weiss asked, trying to wave Ruby off with words alone, although it didn't stop her from glaring at her with defiance. The Schnee heiress could feel it, even from the other side of the room. "I give you all the respect someone in your position deserves. Pyrrha just has a better grip on the subject and we work better as a team on these p-"

"I'm your partner, not Pyrrha!" Ruby shouted, even if she sounded more frustrated than angry for some reason. "Why do you think she and Jaune are gone during these times? I asked Jaune to have more practices with Pyrrha so we can work as a team, instead of you just leaving me out in the cold." Ruby added, although she then moved to cover her mouth, as if trying to prevent more truths from pouring forth.

Weiss knew that there was a reason that the normally partner training-averse Jaune was eager to train with Pyrrha, but she had put it down to overconfidence being crushed by the sparring lessons. Seeing how Ruby had manipulated her own team like this just reminded Weiss of how young Ruby really was, to go to such measures just because she was jealous of the time Weiss and Pyrrha spent together. _She's fifteen and inexperienced, such abuses of power should be expected._

"I do not leave you out in the cold. We've practised as a duo and a team numerous times, this week, and we sit together in most classes." Weiss said, trying to stay calm so that Ruby could see how childish she was being. It was the same in class, passing notes to Yang or taking up Jaune's already-small attention-span with her little antics.

If it wasn't for Pyrrha, Weiss wouldn't have made it passed the week.

"And with Pyrrha," Ruby replied, with more than a bit of grumbling. To Weiss, she resembled a child more than anything else. "I might as well be on the other side of the room, for all the times you listen to me."

"Should I just ignore her then?" Weiss asked, half-expecting Ruby to reply in the affirmative. "If it wasn't for her advice, that match with the Boarbatusk would have been drawn out for who knows how long."

_I can't believe I forgot about its weak spot._ It had been a great shame to Weiss' dignity that she allowed Ruby and Jaune's little chants to distract her from the task at hand, standing in stark constrat to Pyrrha's whisper before she prepared herself for the match against the Grimm.

"I gave that advice as well. You just ignored it, because it came from me." Ruby said, looking downcast and miserable. Spikes of pity went through Weiss' heart and she was going to apologise, mostly because she didn't want a crying Ruby to deal with, or a furious Yang rallying Team BRNY against her, only Ruby now looked angry. "As leader of Team JPWR, I'm ordering you to treat me like your teammate and partner, instead of some accident. As first part of that order, you're going to let me help you with _our_ p-"

"Order?" Red flowed across the heiress' eyes, forcing hidden feelings out into the open. Weiss felt her hands throw themselves into the air, and her body soon began to enter an act of total surprise at Ruby's words, amazement oozing from each word. "My word! Is Ruby Rose going to act like a leader now? Could it be that she'll actually show a reason for her deserving to be leader above all others? Nope. It's just her using her authority to pretend that her little tantrum means something more than a brat playing at being a Huntress."

Ruby now looked wounded, a dog that had been struck. At another point, Weiss might have calmed down and talked things out, only she was now on a roll and couldn't stop herself, frustrations burst forth and now every feeling she had about the leadership of Team JPWR. _She needs to hear this._ The thought soon became justification for her ranting. _It's for her own good, and for the team's good._

"For the past week, you've acted like this is a game! All the training schedules have been designed by either myself or Pyrrha, along with most of the study notes that you enjoy half-reading and half-drooling on, while you just resist anything that ruins your little fantasy world where we all pretend that there's no issue with your leadership. You've done _nothing_ to reach this point. I've had to train day and night, balance out education, business and family to meet Beacon's standards, endure constant doubts about whether I can be a Huntress. Only to find that it's all apparently worthless when a _child_ impresses Ozpin enough."

Memories came back to her, of when she first expressed interest in going to Beacon, rather than just learning self-defence, and the scorn with which her father had poured onto such ideas. Of when she wanted to be more than just a pretty face and voice for albums and PR campaigns against the White Fang and how no one believed that she could do such things. Of the aftermath from her battle with the Black Knight, how the doctors told her of how the wound would scar, destroying her facial symmetry, whilst her father just looked at her with the same neutral expression as always.

His words cut through her mind like ice.

_Weiss, you can slay any beast. I don't see why you need to waste your time trying to go further, in the name of some misguided attempt to make a name for yourself._

_You have ample time to pursue any interest you like, focusing all of your efforts on this little project neglects other horizons. A Schnee needs to be able to adapt, especially if she is truly unable to meet proper standards. Better to grow many plants, rather than obsess over a tree that may not even grow._

_How exactly do you know that you won't just die by the third year? You couldn't even defeat the Black Knight without nearly losing an eye. I hope you don't intend for me to explain to Winter why her sister became half-blind, or worse, because you need some sort of validation from this._

Father had always doubted her, thought her dream of becoming a Huntress was a mere attempt at forging her own identity. It wasn't until visiting Huntsmen were comparing her to Signal and Sanctum students in her favour, claiming that she was at Beacon level, owing to her dedication, that the great Frost Schnee began to see her talent. Amongst all the offers for her to be a private student, a second-year student at certain institutions and even an offer from General Ironwood himself to give her the best training possible, Weiss remained focused on Beacon.

Her father wanted the best, so she strived to be the best of the best.

Only now it seemed that she was stuck in group politics, contending with a leader who had no idea what true leadership was. _All Ruby seems dedicated to doing is fighting Grimm. A good fighter does not make a good leader._ Therein lied the problem. Ruby was skilled with her Crescent Rose and in practical lessons, but all else seemed to rarely interest her.

"Weiss, I thought you said we could work well together." A meek voice said, almost sounding as if she was asking if she had been lied to. "That we could be a team."

The heiress had to be straightforward, sighing before talking. "Not when it's led by you. Frankly, we all deserve better." Deciding that she needed air, Weiss decided to have a walk before night engulfed Beacon.

Before she left, leaving the project half-done, Weiss turned to see Ruby's lips quivering, her stance looking defeated and crushed. She had gone from standing to sitting on the bed, not even trying to stop her partner from leaving. It felt wrong, seeing the girl who once took to whistle-blowing in the morning appear tired and weak, almost nearing tears from the harsh words smashed upon her without a care.

_I used to be like that, where no one could see._ The constant barrage of news about the death of uncles, aunts, friends and other faces she knew had damaged Weiss' ability to truly hope. When she was told of how Winter wouldn't be unable to come home due to some complication, she'd often cry, and she knew the feeling of having cold, cutting words aim to destroy your hopes. A sinking feeling reached her stomach, now fearing she damaged Ruby's self-confidence beyond repair._I'll let her down gently._

"It's not your fault, Ruby," The voice was gentle, but Ruby's reaction was sharp, a look of amazement and even hope shone from her eyes. "Your combat skills match anyone's here and you did earn your place at Beacon. It's just that Ozpin made a mistake, in judging your leadership skills."

Weiss didn't know if she said that to cheer Ruby up, or if it was just to settle the bad feeling she had. Either way, she left not knowing if it really helped Ruby and began to make the way outside, once more hoping that some fresh air might cool her head, after that unexpected argument between the two partners.

A gale of laughter wash over Weiss, making her turn to see that Team BRNY, a.k.a Burgundy, was the exact opposite of her and Ruby. Yang and Nora seemed to be smiling and joking about something, Blake kept a smile hidden from the book she was reading and Lie Ren was trying to convince the two to not break someone's legs, which worried Weiss somewhat. It was just this morning that both Team JWPR and BRNY were at the lunch table, enjoying each other's company.

_We were happy as well._ Weiss thought to herself, before realising the difference between the two. _No, we just hid our worries under a guise of lies and self-deceit. We didn't have Blake as a leader. Quiet, skilled, intelligent._

Ruby, on the other hand, was a classic victim of the Peter Principle, a talented young star who was promoted too fast and ended up suffering for it. Her skill in combat was amazing for someone of her age, her uncle apparently teaching her, but it seemed that the lack of age meant that Ruby didn't have the proper maturity for leadership, to the detriment of Team JPWR.

_I might have been a bit harsh. The poor girl might just be cracking under pressure._ Being the youngest student in Beacon must have been hard, alongside having to be a leader and to also meet a sudden increase in workload compared to Signal. She must have thought Beacon would be a barrel of laughs, compared to the intense pressure of the combat exams, and the argument served as a harsh wake-up call.

Weiss decided to see Jaune and Pyrrha, partly to see their progress and partly to warn Pyrrha that she may start venting tomorrow when they practised together, so that there wouldn't be any misunderstandings over any emotional changes. They had to work out formations for their style imbalance.

Or rather, that's what Weiss would have done, were it not the sight of a nervous Ruby speaking with Professor Ozpin. The words 'leadership' and 'mistake' were the only ones Weiss could hear, before she decided to rush away, choosing to respect the privacy of both in whatever they were discussing.

Ruby might have been asking for Ozpin to find a replacement for her as leader. If that was the case, Weiss wondered if she misjudged Ruby, who seemed to have taken her words close to heart quickly, and decided that either Pyrrha or Weiss should be the new leader. _No, it wouldn't likely be me. I think I was a bit too harsh to gain any recommendations from Ruby._

Still, it was sensible of Ruby Rose to take Weiss' words to heart, she shouldn't be feeling guilty for telling her harsh truths. Now Team Jasper could find a new purpose, Ruby would be able to put her talents to good use and they would be safely led by-

"-Jaune Arc?" Weiss asked, looking horrified at Professor Port.

She had run into him whilst fleeing from Ruby and Professor Ozpin and had taken the time to ask him about the project on drawing out and labelling the differences between the same species of Grimm, separated by five hundred years. Weiss was finding the whole thing interesting and decided that an experienced Huntsman would know what to do about Weiss' doubts about the leadership, after he noticed her clear discomfort and how two members of the team might have been better equipped to take on the task.

Only her concerns was swiped away and she was now finding out that, in the case of Ruby stepping down, _Jaune_ would be made leader.

"Should I just cover myself with barbecue sauce and let the Grimm eat me now? Or should I wait with the rest of my team?" Weiss asked, now wondering if Ozpin was one of the few unfortunate souls to be a victim of dementia before he turned sixty-five.

"Child, your determination to allow a few innocent compliments from the lad distort your view of him is worrying." Professor Port's words might have had a great impact on Weiss had his attempts at covering up laughter not been so obvious. It was when he discussed Professor Ozpin's judgement, and Weiss' lack of faith in it, that he became serious. "I've known Professor Ozpin for decades now and he's never once led me astray."

"But-"

"In fact, we were going to make Mr Arc the leader, originally." Port's words had stunned Weiss into silence, wondering when she was going to see Yang and Blake dance their way towards the two of them. "Why do you think we named you Team JPWR?"

"Because the letters J, P, R and W don't mix well?" Weiss snapped.

Silence ruled the two, Professor Port's static expression making Weiss wonder if this had been the first time that Beacon's naming system had encountered such an issue. Unfortunately, Weiss was beginning to realise that Professor Port seemed the type to blindly obey such inane rules without a single word of protest.

"Regardless, I find your words worrying for a different reason." Port said, his voice now carrying more than a hint of reproach towards Weiss' conduct, for reasons she couldn't imagine. "How long did you believe that ignoring the leader of your team would work out? Did you think that seeing the structure as you prefer it, rather than how it is, would be sustainable?"

Anger made Weiss try to fight back against these accusations. "How-"

"I'd say I see a girl who refuses to shift her mind on anything, or anyone, once she has made a judgement, no matter what." Port's scolding seemed different from her father's, he seemed more disappointed in her, in comparison to a cold evaluation of what she had done wrong. "A trait that is admirable in small doses, when directed against injustice or focusing on moral righteous, but Professor Oobleck can tell you a few hundred stories on what happens to those who refuse to change their views. Your refusal to see your team leader as anything but a usurper of your destiny is one such example."

Weiss felt chastened. There were a fair few occasions where Ruby did try and focus in lessons, give Jaune advice about weapon maintenance and approaching Weiss about the two of them training together. On top of that, Pyrrha did seem confident in Ruby's abilities, whenever Weiss took it upon herself to complain about the two being passed over. Now, she was wondering if she would have accepted Pyrrha being team leader, had she the same skill and none of the name recognition and gained the leadership.

Or would Weiss have written her off as too weak to be a Huntress?

Whether he was noticing her thoughts or not, Professor Port carried on with his lecture. "Do you believe that crushing the self-belief of an aspiring Huntress is the proper way to manage a team when arguments start? That those in power would applaud a campaign to take control of a team, based on your own perception of what you deserve? That Ms Nikos, assuming she gained the leadership, would be grateful for your actions?"

His voice was barely different from when he was telling stories of his hunt for Grimm, but Weiss knew she was being scolded. It brought back memories of when she was starting her own training, a slight understanding of the risks, but it had been buried under a mountain of joy and excitement, a certainty that everything was going to be fun. It reminded her of how Team BRNY were acting before she encountered Professor Port, comfortable with each other's presence and a feeling of camaraderie about them, no question of how they worked well as a unit.

_They're better together than us because they acknowledge each other's existence._ Weiss admitted to herself, now looking to the ground in shame, realising how she must have sounded to Ruby, who only wanted to make the team work.

When did Weiss Schnee become her father?

"I see great potential in you, Ms Schnee. You could be a fine Huntress, but only if you stop thinking about being the best leader or wishing that things were different, and more on being the best person you can be and work to make the situation fair for all. Hone your skills, perfect every technique and help your leader become the ideal for your team, instead of replacing her with what you see as the ideal." Professor Port said, Weiss felt her spirits rise again, a new inspiration taking hold and lighting her up, even if evening was approaching.

"Thank you, Professor Port." She said with genuine appreciation, as she then turned to search for her partner. "I need to stop Ruby from making a terrible mistake."

"My dear child, night is approaching us now and Professor Ozpin rarely accepts such requests in great speed. Your dorm room may be the best place for such talks, I have faith in your ability to rally a team spirit." Port replied, nodding as he said those words.

Weiss gave a nod of her own and began to run as if her life depended on it, determined to make the most of her new purpose and make things up with her partner. From afar, towards their dorm room, Weiss saw the briefest flicker of red and bolted forward, determined to catch up to her in time, all the while listing a mantra in her mind. _Alright, be the best person you can be, Weiss. The best person._

The evening was still early, meaning that there was still time to work on the Grimm Studies project together, if the two worked on half now and half tomorrow. Even then, Weiss had fallen behind on it, waiting for Pyrrha instead of using her own partner, so they were going to need coffee to function. Thankfully, coffee machines littered the campus for some strange reason, which Weiss now assumed was the universe rewarding her for her decision to make things right with her team leader.

A sudden realisation dampened Weiss' mood somewhat, as it became clear that she was going to have to tell her father about the team composition. By now, he'd be with Winter, but he would be in his special office tomorrow, which was just enough time for Weiss to use her Scroll to send a message to him about how Team JPWR was set up..

_Just stay cool, Weiss. You lost ou-No._ Weiss scolded herself harshly for what she was about to do. She wasn't going to adopt a negative mindset to this and she wasn't going to let negative thoughts about this rule her. She had to be the best person she could be and that meant acknowledging the talents of all the team. _A prodigy who moved up two years was chosen to lead you, Pyrrha Nikos and an Arc._

Jaune's talent might have needed refinement, but his family had a history of being great Huntsmen for four generations, his great-grandfather having fought in the Faunus War and rescued General Lagume from captivity. Not only that, but his mother was distantly related to the de Rais line, known for their noble deeds over time. With Pyrrha as well, there was no way that her father could say that Weiss had failed in any way, if Ruby was judged as more fit for leadership than the three of them.

Speaking of those two, Weiss could see a slightly tired Pyrrha and exhausted Jaune heading to their dorm room as well, only the former seemed concerned with something. It was unlikely to be that, but Weiss soon realised that the time needed on the Grimm Studies project meant that she needed to cancel something she had arranged with Pyrrha, something that she hoped the prodigy would take well.

"Pyrrha," She called out, getting the two's attention, although they seemed confused with how apologetic she sounded. "I'm afraid I'll need to delay combat practise tomorrow. I couldn't find the time to finish my part of the project for Grimm Studies and Ruby offered to help, and I thought it would be a good thing for partners to-"

"I understand." Pyrrha said, raising a hand to silence Weiss. "We already booked the room though, so do you mind if I take Jaune instead?"

"What?" Jaune asked, looking shocked, but not upset, with Pyrrha's request.

"Of course, it's important for partners to spend time together. Builds up that team bond." Weiss replied, trying to sound as enthusiastic for the two as she could, in the hopes that the two would see how committed she was to building Team JPWR up.

"You seem different than before." Jaune said, looking confused with Weiss' change in attitude, before he looked far too confident for her liking. "You know, the Spruce Willis film isn't out yet, but if you wanted to see the new-"

_Best person, best person._ Weiss' mental mantra managed to drown out the inspid offer she was being given, even Pyrrha looking a bit sad for Weiss, until the petite rapier-wielder noticed a rather important tool missing. "Where's Crocea Mors?"

Jaune's face turned as white as Weiss' dress. "Oh no." He murmured to himself, before he rushed back the way the two had came, screaming from the top of his very lungs. "Professor Goodwitch! I need to be let back into Training Room 5!"

"Jaune, wait! It's Training Room 4 that we last practised in!" Pyrrha called out, moving toward him, only to turn back to Weiss. "Do you-"

"Of course not, go right ahead." Weiss realised that a screaming Jaune Arc was not something people would welcome, and that Pyrrha would be necessary to justify Professor Goodwitch not leaving Jaune out to dry for his own forgetful memory. All for the good of the team.

Pyrrha seemed thankful, from the few seconds worth of an expression Weiss saw, before she quickly ran after Jaune and left the Schnee's sight. The team atmosphere was already lightening up, or rather Weiss was less likely to mope around about the leadership, and it made everything seem far more relaxed and steady, compared to the slow-burning tension of the past.

How much of that was in the team and how much was just Weiss was a fair question to ask.

Entering the building containing her dorm room, Weiss managed to find the ground floor coffee machine, only to see Yang Xiao Long panicking in front of it. Deciding to be friendly, Weiss gave a gentle wave to Yang, who seemed to see Weiss' arrival as some sort of blessing, as a welcome change to their usual dialogue.

"Yang, I don't suppose you know if that machine still has enough sugar in it?" Weiss asked, even if she began to doubt if the machine still worked. It looked as if someone had hit it, or chose to press the buttons too many times, and the poor thing seemed to be on the fritz. Judging from Yang's presence, it seemed to be that Team BRNY had already taken their fair share of coffee, before it would be replaced in the morning. Nora, Devourer of Sugar and Caffeine had struck again, it seemed.

Say what you will about Team CRDL, they gave the Rules of Coffee Etiquette the deference it deserved, in contrast to the anarchy that was Nora Valkyrie.

"I don't know. This scrap of junk keeps flashing lights at me. Ugh, why did Blake and Ren leave me to do this?" Yang asked, probably to no one, only for Weiss to take it upon herself to try and help Ruby's sister figure out how the machine worked.

"That's a Schnee Coffee Machine." Weiss pointed to the flashing white circle, indicating sugar, placed just above the flashing brown circle to signify caffeine and next to the blue circle screen that read '20%', the blue standing for water. "They flash if you take more than double the recommended amount of caffeine or sugar. Just press it and they'll stop."

"Oh. I hadn't thought of that." Yang said, pressing the white and brown buttons, thus bringing peace and quiet to the room, and leaving the two of them in an awkward silence. "By junk, I meant not-junk." She explained, desperately trying to cover up her tracks.

"I know. The machine isn't as simple as I made it out to be, by the way. The mechanism involved in measuring the amount of sugar and caffeine inside is actually one of the more complex parts of the Schnee product line, including-"

"It has four sugars." Yang responded, interrupting Weiss's sales pitch. "Now that I know the machine isn't going to blow up, no thanks to Nora," Yang grumbled, Weiss giving all the sympathy that she could, before the blonde made to leave the room, waving her farewell to the Schnee. "I'll let you make the apology coffee."

Weiss Schnee did not blush or stutter. She was merely taken by surprise by how quick Yang was to the punch. "How did you-"

"You're being nice. Either the world's about to end or you removed the stick in your butt and decided to accept the fact that Ruby exists." Yang sounded serious as she spoke, Ruby having probably come to her sister for comfort before, to Weiss' shame. Her open look of repentance might have been what made Yang sound friendly again. "Ah, it's alright. Just make sure you don't let Myrtenaster get up there again, I might start to like this new you, rather than you being full of Schneet."

_Be the best person. Murdering your partner's older sister is not something the best person would do._ Weiss kept her breath steady and maintained a positive image, even if she was now imaging Yang's body with a few more holes in it, leaving her without the ability to make absolutely inappropriate puns.

It was best to look on the bright side. No one was probably going for coffee in the middle of the night, and four pieces of sugar should be ample enough for even Ruby Rose.

The past week had been awkward and filled with denial and simmering tensions, because of Weiss, and she intended to make the next four years the exact opposite. She and Ruby were going to be the best partners ever, Team Jasper would be recorded as amongst the finest teams to grace Beacon Academy and Weiss Schnee would ensure that she was the best teammate possible.

First things first, she had to take Ruby's coffee order, if she was still up for working with Weiss on their Grimm Studies project. Hopefully, that girl's endless supply of joy and happiness was enough to forgive Weiss for what she told the younger girl earlier.

Four sugars is enough for an apology coffee, right? She asked her own mind. Of course it was. Who needs more than four?


	3. Thick Skin

**Hey guys, I really appreciated the feedback given for the past two chapters and am happy to see that you all enjoyed it so much. I will say that Team JWPR was named such because I couldn't find a colour starting with R that really matched with the other three letters, and I wanted to follow the OC Team rules set down by Oum, so I chose to ignore the unofficial rule instead of the official one. **

**Hopefully, no one is bothered by that, or by this chapter looking at Jaune and Pyrrha instead of Ruby and Weiss.**

* * *

Let it not be said that Jaune Arc was not improving.

Most other people would say that with a sneer, looking at the blonde's form, gasping for air and on one knee, as a testament to his poor ability as a potential Huntsman. Some to mock, some out of anger that he was in a team with three elites, or even that he reached Beacon while they did not, and others out of exasperation for attempting to coordinate team sessions. Weiss might have been the only one in that last group, but she did seem the type to be under constant pressure, so being patient was important.

Pyrrha Nikos also knew that most saw Weiss as cold or stuck-up, only she remained stubborn in seeing the best out of everyone.

This must have been the reason that she was trying so hard to ensure that Jaune could match them in skill. To ensure that he was able to reach his true potential, as he showed when they fought the Deathstalker, he and Ruby working out the right way to kill the Grimm, and so that a certain student whose name rhymed with Wardin Cinchester would back-off.

It was hard to convince Jaune to train with her. He seemed happy to train by himself and only seemed to relent when Weiss made it clear that he would be training with Pyrrha unless he wanted to see Myrtenaster in a variety of ways, which seemed a bit overly-aggressive, but it helped in getting Jaune to come around.

_Or maybe he just wanted to impress Weiss._ Pyrrha ignored such thoughts, having no trouble at all with Jaune's little crush on the heiress to the SDC. Come on, he's like a little puppy. Ruby's young, but you know what a certain aunt said about men. Completely controlled by their d-

No. Pyrrha was not going to go down that road. It was at a family celebration and said aunt had a bit too much to drink, no need to repeat such crass thoughts aloud.

Repressing harsh language was something Pyrrha was used to. People didn't like sore winners at the Minstril Tournament and the PR people at Pumpkin Pete's said that she was now a model to hundreds of thousands of young children, which meant that she had to maintain an air of civility and display good nature. She was always like that, nothing had to be forced, only there were times where she felt tired of checking her words and shaking the hands of everyone she defeated, right down to the blatant cheaters.

"Pyrrha?" A vague, distant voice asked, filled with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Oh Jaune," Pyrrha replied, quickly recognising the voice from the slight undertone of nervousness. "I was just lost in thought. Sorry if I upset you."

"Nah, if anything, you seemed angry about something." Jaune said, looking at Pyrrha as if trying to read her mind. She needed an excuse and fast.

"I was just thinking of Velvet, the poor girl seemed frightened to even be in the same classroom as that bully." She replied, as she hardened her voice and narrowed her gaze at one of the training room walls.

It was not a lie. Pyrrha was upset about what she had seen in the lunch hall, some poor young girl who was separated from her team via mishaps in scheduling being bullied, all because of a few extra ears with the wrong features. The rabbit Faunus had barely escaped the group's grasp and Cardin Winchester's gang had probably not wanted to appear pro-active in their torment, knowing that their fellow students would then be compelled to do something.

Cardin Winchester was the latest in a line of low-level Huntsmen and Huntresses, more known for military service than for battling Grimm. A few had been awarded medals of honour for their work on the front-lines, but Cardin didn't seem to show any of the virtues that such awards represented, unless it was now valorous to harm the weak and downtrodden, rather than to protect them. There was no excuse for his behaviour.

Jaune seemed to agree, hand moving to scratch the back of his head. "I know. I haven't got anything near that bad happen to me, but I know that dick is-" A little gasp cut Jaune off, Pyrrha wondering where it had came from, before she realised that it was her, leaving her partner to cover up his language. "Sorry, didn't mean to use rude language."

"You don't need to apologise." Pyrrha thought it was a sign of excellent self-control that her face didn't turn red. She honestly felt like a child again, gasping at a swear word, as if it was really anything to be bothered about. She wasn't Ms Pumpkin Pete or the inspiration for entire classes in Beacon, she didn't need to act kid-friendly.

Or rather, not to the extent of before.

"Sorry. Again." Jaune always sounded a bit nervous, right after training. That said, it was better than Pyrrha having to build up his self-confidence after he failed to land a single hit on her. "You just remind me of some of my teachers. The nicer ones, don't worry."

"That's good to hear." Pyrrha said with a bright smile, the lie hanging on every word.

It wasn't that she was upset at Jaune personally, she had spent enough time with him to see that sincerity was one of the best things about him. It was just that Pyrrha had grown tired of being the teacher, the mentor for which the children of Mistril could all learn from, rather than just being a friend helping a friend out, just like how Ruby and Weiss saw each other when they trained. _I bet he doesn't see Weiss as one of the strict teachers._

The bitter thought rang through her, which made Pyrrha more than a bit horrified about just how angry it sounded in her head. Weiss Schnee was a great person for Team JWPR, she was forward in her praise and did have a talent for combat, even by Beacon standards, and had even come out of her shell. In contrast to staying with Pyrrha, probably out of being shy, she was now trying her best to work with Ruby and reached out to Team BRNY when she could.

Jaune and Pyrrha, on the other hand, now seemed trapped in a relationship more suiting a teacher and a student, rather than as partners. The training wasn't exactly making things easier, it seemed, as Jaune was more pre-occupied with dusting himself off rather than bonding with Pyrrha, who could admit to rather special feelings about her partner that were more than different compared to how she felt about others.

She didn't mind if Jaune never liked her as much as she seemed to like him. Even then, the people involved often promised to stay friends, which was all she wanted.

Someone to stand beside her, rather than look up to her as an example to follow. _Remember, Ms Nikos, a lot of people are going to do exactly what you'll be doing in this match. I don't need to tell you that sportsmanship is a virtue we value highly at Pumpkin Pete's._

Weiss didn't seem to have the same problem. Ruby didn't seem to care about Weiss' less than joyful past, giving her the same adoration and companionship that the world's happiest puppy would give to anyone nearby. She acted in a similar with Pyrrha, only Ruby could slip into ranting about how amazing Pyrrha's weapon was, but Weiss was clearly the best friend, however much the latter protested.

During the more...stressful moments of her time at Sanctum, or when dealing with her fame, Pyrrha at least had her thoughts to herself. There, she could think whatever she wanted about the opponent who suggested that she cheated in their match, or play out the scenario where she could stand up for the Faunus student without 'bringing in too much attention' (only the potential for the dog-eared boy being scared away kept her from doing anything). She could even swear, which meant more for a fourteen year-old girl than it did for an older and wiser Pyrrha.

The best part had been that no one would gasp or look at her strangely when expressing such thoughts in her mind, no fear of ruining anyone's job or reputation.

"Pyrrha? You're making that upset face again. Are you sure everything's alright?" Jaune asked again, which shook Pyrrha out of her own world again.

"Jaune..." She decided to be direct and open about her concerns. That was what friends did, right? "Do you like being around me? I'm not too boring or intense?" She asked softly, only now out of nervousness, rather than politeness.

"What?" Jaune seemed amazed that the red-head even asked such a question to him. "Why wouldn't I want to hang out with you? You're one of the coolest people I know, and that was true even before I heard about you winning Tournaments since you were a baby."

The image made Pyrrha laugh. "It wasn't that long ago." She said, even if she was grateful for the compliment. "You just seemed really nervous around me, when we first met, and you were really against training with me, even with Weiss' schedule."

"That's because she wanted us to sacrifice most of our lunch breaks for training." Jaune pointed out, as Pyrrha recalled Ruby complaining about having no free time to spend with their friends. "She's cooled down a bit now, though. I think Ruby's rubbing off on her."

"Then, am I being too tough on the training?" Pyrrha had never done this sort of thing before, or at least without an instructor nearby. She wondered if her methods were making Jaune think he was making no improvement. "You're doing really well, a lot better than when you first started-not that you were bad." She assured, before she began to wave her arms.

"It's not the training schedule." Jaune said, still on the ground which he then looked to, almost curling up into a human ball. "It's just...it'll sound stupid."

_I've seen people dare each other to steal a bit of Yang's hair. Anything else is going to sound a lot smarter._ Pyrrha hoped that a single look was enough to show her thoughts, which seemed enough to make Jaune expand on his doubts.

"I thought that I had to get better alone. That getting better meant less if I was given help." The pace of his words had almost been too fast for Pyrrha, as if they were one word. It hadn't stopped her from hearing what he said, however, and Pyrrha wasn't going to just let it go without a response.

"Jaune-"

"You saw me on that tree. What if someone was being attacked? I wouldn't have been able to do anything to save them." He all but shouted, the guilt clear in his voice, alongside the yearning to be more than the jokester of the team.

Pyrrha moved to sit down next to her partner. "No one gets better on their own. Behind every great hero, there's always a group of people pushing them forward, helping them protect the innocent."

"Yeah, but my dad, granddad and great granddad were all famous heroes. Lone warriors, fighting against impossible odds, and triumphing without help." Jaune, with the use of his left hand, listed the achievements of his ancestors. "Dad held off a near-army of Grimm for three hours until help arrived for the village he was protecting, Granddad died slaying the Rat-King and people see Great Granddad as a hero of the Faunus War for Pete's sake."

The Faunus Rights Revolution had not been humanity's finest moment, centuries of slavery and oppression had caused large amounts of bloodshed between humans and Faunus to the point where all four kingdoms agreed to work towards a common goal. Forcing the Faunus out of their lands and into a new land, where they would be safely out of sight and mind. The Menagerie had little agricultural land and it was clear that none of the kingdoms particularly cared whether the Faunus lived or died.

The result was three years of complete bloodshed and anarchy. Most of the people who made their name on both sides were often either the closest thing to pure evil, or had a list of deeds dark enough to make it awkward to celebrate their name. There was a reason that many Huntsmen and Huntresses now looked down on those who sold their skills to the highest bidder, or to whichever government paid them the most, for the evils they were happy to do in such name.

Godfrey Arc was different.

The man had been the son of a baker and was part of General Legume's army, even thought he had been noted as a man who opposed the purpose of the war, discovered after said war ended. His claim to fame had first been saving his unit from the massacre at Fort Castle and his later rescue of the generals held hostage, covering himself with nearby plant life to hide his appearance and scent from the Faunus' lost five of the hostages in the escape and trek home, two to the Faunus and three to the wilderness, but he and fifteen others had been able to escape.

His true heroism, to Pyrrha at least, had been to use the escape to not rally humanity into pouring more resources and lives into killing. He instead chose to make to make the fifteen survivors inform the King of Atlas of both the atrocities committed and the broken morale of the army and populace in the Faunus War, especially with the war now on the offensive. It, alongside with the Faunus about to attack a major city for the first time. The resulting treaty had allowed for the Faunus to be given legal rights, including a ban on forced relocation not openly specified in a renting contract, a ban on 'extensive labour' (slavery) and many others.

Naturally, some didn't think Godfrey Arc was a great hero. Some thought he should have used his infiltration to kill the Faunus command or rallied humanity to wipe out the Faunus and the Faunus soon began to wonder if they might have been able to gain more rights, had they only the hostages to negotiate with.

Either way, Jaune having to live up to his great grandfather's legacy must have been difficult to live up to, once added on with his grandfather's and father's legacy, the pressure must have been intense.

The swordsman went on. "I know that they had people helping them too, but my mother's side of the family were a close group. Not the most welcoming to strangers and focused more on working with each other." Jaune looked at her, his eyes glimmering with doubt, Pyrrha could tell that he wanted to tell her something, but was kept back by something. "Let's just say they're not on the birthday card list."

"Jaune, if you don't think that you're good enough, let me tell you something." Pyrrha stood up and put her hands to her sides, she looked Jaune Arc right in the eye and saw all of his worries and fears before she spoke again. "You're completely wrong."

To say that Jaune looked shocked would be similar to saying that Weiss missed a growth spurt or two growing up. Confidence flowed through her blood, as the warrior in her felt emboldened to go on. _Alright, Pyrrha. Time to be a good friend._

"I won't lie, your combat skills need a lot of work before you reach the top ranks, but that's what we're here for. Your team, and we need you just as much as you need us." Pyrrha said, as she recalled all the times that he had helped Team JWPR. "Ruby needs you to keep her mind from wandering into five different directions, Weiss needs you to help with connecting with Ruby and I definitely need as many friends in my team as possible." Pyrrha had placed a certain emphasis on the word friend, and it seemed to cheer Jaune up.

"Well, Weiss did talk about whether Crocea Mors can synergise with Dust, or whatever she said. And Ruby needs someone to save all that sugar from Nora when it's my turn at the coffee run." Jaune admitted, slowly standing up right beside Pyrrha, dusting himself off and scratching the back of his head.

"Exactly. So don't think of yourself as any less for working with your teammates, we're a team before anything else." Pyrrha put a hand to Jaune's shoulder and motioned to the room around them, the same one they had been using the past week and a bit. "Besides, not anyone can qualify for Beacon."

It only lasted for a second, but she almost thought those words had make Jaune feel worse, going by the brief flicker of hurt in his eyes. "Yeah."

_Maybe he's nervous about combat practise tomorrow._ A few of the teams were being paired together and some were going to fight as teams and others were going to be evaluated on their individual performance, leaving Pyrrha to hope that they would be lucky enough to work in team-battles. _If it's individuals for us, he'll be paired with someone fair, hopefully._

"It's getting late, we might want to get back. Knowing Weiss, she and Ruby will be having one of those Super-Fun-Power-Study-Buddy-Revision Sessions." Jaune said, looking at the rapidly darkening sky, before he turned to his partner with a smile. "Pyrrha, please remind me to keep Weiss from trying to compromise with Ruby on names."

"I'll try. That said, you could try and help them come up with something better." She replied, the both of them knowing that it would be a futile task when faced against someone as eager as Ruby. It was always nice to see someone so full of energy, if only they focused it on shortening names.

Jaune laughed at her words. "Good point. Study Team?" He suggested, Pyrrha only answering with a laugh of her own. "Hey, it was the first thought to come to my head."

"Our name's better." A cheery voice added, both Jaune and Pyrrha turning to see their team leader watching the both of them from the door. Ruby Rose's cheeks were puffed out, as if showing her discontent with their opinion on their name, although it was the opinion of the other girl who gained their attention.

"Obviously." Weiss said, supporting her partner in their choice of names. She then turned her attention towards Pyrrha, who was admittedly confused about why the two were here so close to curfew. "It was getting late and Ruby couldn't finish her History project until you two were back."

"Just 'cause you didn't know why Vale and Vaccuo had that trade war." Ruby mumbled, her arms folded onto one another.

Weiss had been caught off-guard by Ruby's reply and was left stumbling over her words. "Yo-I-Jus-" Incoherence gave way to an icy expression, no trace of mercy being present. "Ruby,I'm cutting your cookie allowance for that."

"Weiss! That's mean. You're mean." Ruby instantly entered a pout, the betrayal in her eyes flooded the room. "Your heart is Weiss cold."

Pyrrha had nothing to say about that.

Weiss, the poor girl probably never seeing many jokes in the Schnee household, had been deprived of laughter enough that she had to restrain herself from laughing. Jaune had the appropriate look of horror at such a joke. "Ruby, I think we need to get you a different sense of humour. Maybe one that's a bit different to Yang's." He said, as if a dangerous weapon had just been released.

"That would be for the best." Pyrrha added, which only seem to make Ruby appear angry, although it just looked adorable more than threatening.

"Everyone is being really mean to me, and all I wanted was to look out for my team." At that, everyone had burst out into laughter at the odd scene they found themselves in.

"What else are friends for?" Jaune pointed out, in between guffaws.

Ruby and Weiss left, having gained from both Jaune and Pyrrha that they would be back at their dorm in a few minutes. Making sure that Jaune remembered Crocea Mors, after what happened before, the two made to leave the training room. Pyrrha was glad with herself, for managing to air some of Jaune's worries, which would only make it easier to break down the barrier in their relationship, whether it was friendship or something more.

It was certainly better than the first week, where Jaune had tried to play the stud and then seemed to almost trip on his own feet. He may even try to ask Weiss out again later, and would probably be rejected once more, but Weiss might be gentler in her rejection compared to before, and Pyrrha would be happy to see that his confidence was improving as a member of Team JWPR. _I was worried she was going to be too rough on him and Ruby, but Weiss has really changed since she started working with Ruby._

Pyrrha hoped that they would be able to work at team practise in Combat Training, since they were allowed to choose who to work with. Team BRNY were fast friends with her team, mostly because Ruby and Yang were sisters and they had all worked together during the Initiation Test, which allowed for comparisons to be easily made. Both teams were equal in combat ability, only now Pyrrha felt more confident in the four of them being able to match Team BRNY in teamwork as well, previously having it be less than satisfactory.

_Tomorrow's supposed to be the first of a few cloud-free days._ She thought to herself, as both her and Jaune moved to leave the Training Room, likely to be locked the second they left. _It'd be nice for the team to enjoy it, we can even go out during the weekend to Vale. I can be more than the team mother._

"Hey Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, turning to her as they walked back to their dorm.

"Yeah Jaune?" Pyrrha replied, wondering what exactly her friend was going to ask.

"It's great that I have a teacher like you." He said, with a smile so innocent it looked to belong to a five year-old, rather than a student of Beacon.

It took all of her willpower to keep her smile from changing one bit. "Thanks, Jaune. You're a great student."

_Just a teacher, huh._ Pyrrha managed to avoid sighing, even when she knew how much the barrier between the two remaining troubled her. Jaune Arc had been friendly and relaxed with everyone in their little group part from her, who he still seemed to treat less like a friend and more like a teacher. Even Blake and Ren, the silent and studious bookworms, hadn't deterred Jaune from being casual with them, and no one could tell that they weren't any less than good friends.

That had gone double for the other two in their team, who Jaune seemed to treat as his best friends, even the one who treated his crush on her with disdain. _Ruby I can get, but why Weiss? Even when she's still so cold, it's like he feels closer and more comfortable with her than with me._

Pyrrha just couldn't figure out why she was unable to be more than a mentor to Jaune, just as it was with her fellow classmates in Sanctum. It wasn't that she was obsessed with getting closer to him, it was just that he seemed to be the only one on their team who hadn't had posters of her in their room at some point. She was tired of being the model for which all should follow, of being the one to live up to, when all she wanted was to be treated as a friend.

Maybe Weiss has something I don't have that he likes. It couldn't be to do with money, strength or fame, Jaune wasn't the the sort to care about such things and Pyrrha matched Weiss in all but the first one of the three. It might have had something to do with their body structure or the way they presented themselves, Weiss being more of the regal princess type to match with Jaune's knightly image, in comparison to Pyrrha's look, which made it easier for Jaune to approach Weiss. No, it can't be clothing. _Maybe it's just the presence I give off._ Just thinking such things made Pyrrha feel silly.

That said, a few small changes to her look might make Pyrrha seem a bit less like the model-student that might have been the cause of Jaune seeing her as a mini-teacher. It didn't have to involve having a messy uniform or changing what clothes she liked, just little things to show that she could be like Ruby or Weiss, so that her partner could see her more than just...a partner.

Maybe she should try to make her hair look like Weiss'.


	4. Half-Made Story

**Now we're going to take a look at the famous Team BRNY (a.k.a Burgundy, as well as 'the team much easier to name'), starring Blake, Yang, Ren, Nora and the feels that come with it. This is probably going to be similar to the last two chapters, in terms of length, and I imagine either next chapter or the chapter after will see us get back to canon and the universally loved Team CRDL. Again, feedback is always great and I'm confident that this will meet everyone's expectations.**

* * *

Yang wondered if she was ever going to see Nora in any mood other than hyperactive. Now, she wanted that mood back more than anything.

"One thing! I ask one thing of you, and you can't even do that!" A certain team leader howled, trying to wrench herself out of Yang and Ren's grasp. "Let me go!"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Nora cried out, holding a certain piece of black ribbon in her hand. "I didn't mean it."

_Hey guys! Let's try and read Blake's naughty books, that's not going to backfire on us._ Yang knew that discovering that Blake was a cat Faunus was on the bottom of the list of things she expected to discover from her actions. It wasn't any different from their team's normal antics, whether it was putting salt on Nora's pancakes, painting Ren's clothes pink or sliding a bald cap on Yang while she slept. _I think I can cross getting Nora back for that one off my to-do list._

Naturally, Blake hadn't taken the stolen Ninjas of Love well. She had been chasing Yang and Nora around the room, and then chastising Ren for not trying to help her, but it had all been for laughs, most of her threats too playful to be taken seriously. Honestly, compared to Ruby's early experience with her team, in near-tears over Ice Queen ignoring her until a week or so ago, Team BRNY seemed to be the best example of the first-year teams getting along.

Then Nora tried to distract Blake by taking her bow.

Even with what Yang now knew to be Blake's Faunus senses, she hadn't been able to stop Nora from snatching away the bow that she valued so much. In all honesty, Yang thought that keeping the bow on when sleeping was a bit much, unless Blake was supposedly unable to use that particular style or if it reminded her of a dead relative. Only now she knew why her partner had been so protective of that bow.

They had kept her ears safe from sight.

The Faunus got a raw deal. Yang remembered being young and seeing kids with strange eyes and a furry ears be turned away from stores, seeing those news reports on protests by certain Faunus Rights groups and more, even when they turned from sit-ins to live murder. She could see why Blake would want to keep it quiet that she was a cat Faunus, Yang could even understand that she thought her team might not have reacted well to seeing her ears.

Just because Yang understood something, however, it didn't mean she was going to accept it. Ren had read her mind when leaping to the door, blocking a panicking Blake from fleeing out of the door and leaving her team alone, as Yang then locked the window shut, trapping Blake in the room. Nora had been left to fire off a barrage of apologies, realising what she had done and the seriousness of the situation, which felt way too wrong for the blonde.

Left without an avenue of escape, Blake Belladona had then moved onto a new emotion. Panic had become replaced with anger, directed at her team, as she leapt at Nora, more like a cat to a mouse than a fellow opponent in a match. Yang and Ren were also victims of Blake's fury, neither of them letting her hurtful words get to them, and Yang considered it a point of pride that she managed to avoid her Semblance going crazy after a harsh tug on her mane.

_Just let her get it out of her system._ Yang told herself, while Ren shouted the same words at Nora, after Blake had just implied that she and Nora were never friends. _She's trying to hurt us, to let her leave. If we let her go, she's not coming back._

That was something that Yang Xiao Long was not going to let happen. She remembered the times that her partner's eyes glistened when the four of them had stood firm against that Nevermore, the inspiration when she made team leader, her attempts at hiding her joy at the team's antics, now clearly the first time she had such fun in a long time, and Yang was not going to let fear rob Blake of the chance to keep having those moments.

Even if Blake thought they were now lost to her.

Just as Yang's arms had begun to weaken and even Ren had started to lose energy, Blake stopped struggling and just went limp. The damp patterns on the floor were more than enough to show that Blake had now moved onto sadness, having emptied out anger that had been boiling for who knew how long, and both Yang and Ren decided that she was not going to run out on the team now. They set her down as gently as they could, before their leader put her feelings into words again.

"It's not fair." She said, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, as if she was protecting herself from something.

"I know." Yang could only reply, even if she doubted really getting what it was like to be a Faunus. She was more focused on trying to comfort her friend, moving to sit right beside her and put her hand on Blake's back, hoping that it could be of some comfort to her.

"The second people look at my ears, I'm a beast to them. To be feared or attacked." Blake murmured, just loud enough that Yang could here, but too quiet for any of them to think that she was really talking to them. "I honestly don't know which one I hate the least." She said, with a smile so sad that it broke Yang's heart.

"Blake, none of us think that of you. You're the same person that you've always been." Ren had sat down facing Blake as he spoke, his normally level voice now a lot softer and more comforting. When they first met, Yang had written off Ren as a bit of a bore, not likely to complain about fun like Weiss but not the kind of guy who would prefer to stay quiet, which had been proved wrong after a few days. Now, Yang had never been gladder to be wrong about someone.

"No I'm not." Blake replied, keeping her focus on the floor. Those three words were a story in their own right, changing Blake from a quiet and mysterious girl to someone to had to learn how to keep their head down and to hide who they were to prevent themselves from being attacked by idiots. It was enough to make Yang cry.

"I'm still really sorry about the bow." Nora said, making her way to sit on Blake's other side, being about as shy as Nora could be. "We're still friends, right? I don't like losing friends." She cautiously moved her arm to comfort Blake as well, her whole stance suggesting that she was afraid that their leader would attack her again.

"Yeah, Nora. We're still friends." Blake answered, which made Nora go back to her standard grin, only to change it to concern again when Blake went back to being sad. "I said things I shouldn't have."

"You were upset, you had to hide who you are from everyone. It's natural that you'd be angry about us finding out." Ren argued, speaking gently to the cat Faunus, Yang appreciating his efforts in showing that no one in Team BRNY was going to judge her.

Yang, on the other hand, found herself saying something she shouldn't have. "I really wish you told us though."

She wasn't stupid. It was obvious that Blake wasn't going to tell people she knew for a few weeks her secret, when their team spent time with a team containing Weiss 'the Faunus really hate her company' Schnee, and that there were good reasons for keeping her identity secret. It didn't stop Yang, however, from feeling as if their partnership had lost a bit of trust. She had no idea if Blake ever planned on telling her anything, or if she just expected to keep her secret from Yang until they graduated. She knew why, but Yang Xiao Long was disappointed in the lack of trust. _I wouldn't have told anyone, if you didn't want me to. Not even Ruby._

She had experience with keeping personal secrets. Nothing as big as what Blake had hidden, but Dad didn't know about a few of Yang's dates before Beacon, and she and Ruby had managed to pretend that they hadn't been the ones to accidentally break his car, instead blaming it on poor design. Even at Beacon, she managed to restrain herself from doing anything about Ruby wanting Ice Queen to respect her and her being jealous of Pyrrha because Weiss had ignored Ruby for her. It was only after she saw the apology coffee and change in attitude that she controlled herself, but that had been far less serious than now.

_I almost miss trying to get that piece of junk working._ Yang thought to herself, wondering how everyone else managed to use it fine.

"I was afraid you'd try and ask about my past." Blake's eyes widened and she pressed her face against her knees. "Why did I say that?" She asked herself, nearing tears again as Yang tried to make her feel better.

"You want to tell us, because you know that we'll understand." Dad had always said that getting the truth off your chest helped, especially around people you knew and trusted.

"Yang, I don't think she's ready for it." It almost felt like Ren had scolded her, which just felt weird to Yang, as he then turned to Blake and went back to a softer voice. "No one here is going to say anything. You can trust us, but only if you want to talk about it."

"Yeah! They could break my legs and I still wouldn't say anything." Nora shouted, holding up arms up and standing tall, compared to the rest of them remaining seated.

Blake still had tears forming at the edge of her eyes, but the moving cat ears seemed to show that she appreciated the support. "No. I think I can tell you a few bits about my past."

A few is more than none. Yang thought, knowing that it must have been tough for Blake to come out like this to the three of them. This night had definitely not been what Yang has expected, with the biggest drama supposed to have been whether Nora messed with her hair stuff again, but she needed to be a good partner if she wanted Blake to trust her.

Nora and Ren were as close as partners and friends could possibly be, despite the two being way more different than any other pair that Yang knew her entire life, and there didn't seem to be a single barrier between the two.

Pyrrha and Jaune had that whole mentor/student thing, which even if it wasn't what Yang wanted, there was no awkwardness or big and terrifying secret that got in the way of the two knowing about each other, while Yang was left with not knowing who Blake really was. She understood, she'd say that as many times as she needed to, but it still bugged her.

Ruby and Weiss, despite the latter being a bit of a Schneet to Yang's adorable baby sister, were now trying to get along. Things were a bit awkward, but the two tried to share with one another and Ruby had even got Weiss to try and crack a few jokes, along with creating team combo names (something Yang was now going to try and get Blake to do), while Yang felt more and more like she and Blake were strangers more than anything.

It was when Blake began to talk that Yang began to truly get why Blake wasn't up for telling her about her past.

"I was always passionate about Faunus Rights, apparently from my parents. So it made sense to join the White Fang." Yang had tried to keep the shock off her face, so either she did a bad job or Nora and Ren weren't able to, judging from how quickly Blake spoke again. "You guys have to remember that they weren't like they are now. They used to be a peaceful group, dedicated to boycotts, sit-ins, strikes, petitions and other non-violent methods, to show humanity that we weren't the beasts that haunted children's nightmares. That we were just like them...only with a few ears or a tail added on, or maybe a different type of eyes or tongue.

"Things didn't always go well, whether we had rocks thrown at us, or we were laughed right in the face. Even then, we still had each other, a lot of the local groups became like a family, which a certain little cat Faunus appreciated a lot." Blake smiled, leaving Yang to wonder when the last time she remembered such things was, starting out as a little kid holding up a protest sign.

_Ignore how cute she must have been, Yang. Resist._ Nora and Ren seemed to have wills of iron, compared to Yang, if they were able to fight back against how adorable that must have looked back then. That, or they better at hiding it than Yang.

Blake's hopeful expression melted into a frown, making her age a few years. "I guess things couldn't go that way forever," Her whole pose sunk, being weighed down by the truth she had kept hidden. "A lot of people were getting tired of having the open hand slapped away, some were beginning to think that the closed fist might have a better chance at working, just as it did before. Our leader stepped down, with a bit of 'persuasion' as it turned out, and was replaced with a new leader with different ideas about how the White Fang should treat humans. I thought that we were going to just start defending ourselves at rallies, any ten year old would want the same thing, so I stayed in.

"I lost a lot of friends who knew better. My best friend had stayed, he even insisted that we try and prove our loyalty to the new cause as much as we could, by working with some of the others to fight against the SDC thugs who enjoyed breaking strikes and unionisation efforts." Nora winced at those words, Blake didn't seem to notice, but Yang did and chose to not ask. "I thought we were still doing good. Just that we weren't happily barking after the latest beating.

"Then the executions started." Blake said those words as if they were acid, burning her soul just by saying them.

_Oh god._ Yang felt the blood flood away from her face, leaving a white face in its wake, even Nora looked freaked out by Blake's words, probably remembering the news reports back then. Ren was the first to say something. "Blake, they didn't make yo-"

"No!" Blake shouted, her words too firm for Yang to believe otherwise. "Only the closest to our dear leader had been chosen for those tasks." Whatever nostalgia Blake had for the old days was gone, replaced with bitterness gushing from every word.

"I think we remember what happened." Yang said, not wanting to hear more.

She remembered waking up and going down for breakfast, to see Dad running to turn off the TV when he saw her coming into the room, the only image she had been able to see was some white-haired man in a black suit saying something to a microphone. She had shrugged it off until she got to school, where everyone was talking about the blood-thirsty Faunus who killed someone and rumours about how they did horrible things that only a child's imagination could think of. Ruby, only about eight or nine, had been scared by the stories and had nightmares for a whole month, after hearing a lot of gruesome stories.

_Weiss can never know about this._ Yang realised, not even wanting to think about how she would react. Blake, whether she noticed Yang's worry or not, kept on talking. "I have to. Ad-My former friend didn't exactly enjoy my attempts at debating the morality of butchering people, let alone recording it. Horace Leuchten had been Head of Mining Operations at the SDC for a few years before he was made CFO by the new head. Why not, when he was Frost Schnee's brother in all but name? When there had been an accident in one of the Schnee mines, killing twenty Faunus, it turned out at he agreed to use inferior materials on the scaffolding to save money. Twenty lives lost, all for the bottom line.

"People complained and the government of Atlas even set up an investigatory committee to look at the SDC's actions. I thought we would finally see some change." Blake's voice was filled with passion, it was like she had just come from the aftermath of that mine disaster, before it turned bitter. "Then Mr Leuchten and an army of lawyers charmed the committee, Chancellor and Emperor into writing off the whole thing as a one-off and only made Frost Schnee pay the families the equivalent of a year's wage each to settle the matter. A family whose finances are just half of a kingdom's, suffered a mere dint in their profits. In hindsight, it was obvious that they hadn't broken any laws, especially ones as weak as those on Faunus Labour, but it still felt like justice had been denied again."

"I know how the story ends." Yang could remember asking Dad what happened, after the third time Ruby asked to sleep in Yang's bed and kept kicking her awake. It must have been the first time the stories on the news on the White Fang had been about violence and death, rather than protests, and all that Dad said was that someone got hurt really bad by some people because they were really angry about something they blamed on him.

In two months, everyone knew the story of how a man was kidnapped from his home, struggling all the way, and had his neck cut, nearly taking off half of his head, while the whole thing was being recorded. There were stories about whether his screams or threats had been recorded, but no one knew since the recording of said execution had been tied to the body and left outside one of the hospitals in Atlas, alongside the addresses of distant relatives of the Schnee family and the names of the Faunus who died at the mines.

"Then you know about the anti-Faunus riots after, and then the attacks on the homes of known rioters, and the murders. Before long we ended up in a tit-for-tat, shops being fire-bombed for not serving Faunus customers and SDC executives being murdered for the company's stance on Faunus labour. We had gone from scorn to fear. Everyone in the movement had been broken by the violence, to the point where fear was fine with them. I tried to warn them about what people do once they tire of fear but-"

"It's better to have some kind of win than no win." Nora spoke out, the others looking at her suspiciously. "Dad used to say that when we played Monopoly, when we just quit halfway through because it was getting boring and grumpy."

"I left the White Fang after some time, they weren't too eager about it, so going to what was once home wasn't an option. Even if I could, I just wanted to forget about everything I believed in becoming mutilated into something else. What I felt myself becoming." She looked at all three of her teammates, far more tired than Yang ever thought someone could be. "I decided that Beacon had the right kind of mindset for what they wanted us to be, so I took the test here."

"And the ears were to help with the past?" Ren asked, looking at the discarded piece of black cloth on the floor.

"I wanted to cut off all my ties with what happened before, and the memento helped with that. Going back to step one wasn't really something I felt helped." Blake admitted. There was probably more to the story, only Yang didn't feel like hearing more.

"It must have been hard." Those were the only words that Yang could come up with, her mind failing to find anything, _anything_ better to say to her friend.

She thought about Blake having to stop herself from intervening for Velvet when she was being bullied by Cardin and his goons, lest attention be drawn to her, or any idealism having been drained by her time with the White Fang.

The jokes she might have heard about the Faunus and bestiality or some misguided comment from someone who either didn't understand or care, doing nothing about it after the blood she saw shed in the name of equality.

Having to look Weiss in the eye, in the middle of an ongoing war between her family and the Faunus. Who knew what Weiss thought of the Faunus, after years of hearing about how this family member and that friend was lost to the White Fang? Yang knew that she wouldn't want to be around if Weiss ever discovered Blake's past in the White Fang, even if it was for only a short time after they went insane.

"Most of the activist in me got knocked out after the death toll became another battlefield." Blake said, now looking to be talking to herself again, as she then went from a sitting position to a lying position. "I'll let it be someone else's problem." She said to herself, her voice feeling like it was dead.

"No." A voice said, as Yang tried to figure out who was talking. "I don't mean no as you should get right back to it, but I'm not going to let you ignore something you care about because of some guys with a murder fetish." It was around halfway through that little speech that Yang realised that she was the one talking, and was fine with it, seeing as Blake's eyes were a mixture of shock and hope.

Ren spoke up next. "Blake, you said it yourself. You're not a member anymore, you left it, and you only stayed in because you wanted to feel protected. You don't have to stop something you cared about because someone is trying to corrupt the wider goal."

"I stayed in for a fair while. I spent so much time in the group, fighting for equality, that it became part of who I was. Leaving it was like cutting off an arm. I can't just ignore that." Blake said, even as Yang saw her face trying to rally at their words, as if inspired for the first time in years.

"Yeah, but you left. That's the important thing. I may have a few of Ren's pancakes, but he's fine with it because I always leave him with some pancakes." Nora said, her normal chipper voice now a blessing to Yang, only to turn moody. "Even if he doesn't let me have them for dinner." She mumbled.

"It's insanity, Nora! Pancakes are not meant for dinner!" Just when Yang thought this night couldn't get weirder, Ren actually shouted at Nora while talking to her. Nora had chosen to respond with a five-second long raspberry.

_That just happened._ Yang decided, before she looked back at an equally taken-aback Blake. "Nora and Ren are right, even if they went a bit off the rails. It wasn't like you were one of the psychos who were running around killing people."

"I bet others wouldn't agree with you." Blake pointed out, moving back to a sitting position, only to look at her new lover, also known as the ground.

"Then they can think that, but I know that you're a good person, Blake." Yang replied, without a single bit of doubt in her mind. "You don't have to say anything to anyone, if you don't want to." She said again, not wanting to come off as too forward with her friend.

"We're Team Burgundy, which you happen to lead Blake. We'll follow your lead to the end, which 'not telling people important secrets' happen to fall under." Ren added, giving a warm smile to Blake.

Nora was a mixture of nervous and giddy. "I'm still really, really sorry about the bow thing." She said, before grabbing Blake's hands and getting a little bit too close to her. "If I break the legs of anyone who tries to be mean to you, will we be friends again." Her eyes were glowing so much that Blake not going blind was a small miracle.

"We were always friends, Nora. Your need to break people's limbs is something we'll have to work on though." Blake said, without even a single blink.

Maybe it was just the end of a stressful half an hour, but everyone seemed to laugh their heads off and then some. Personally, Yang was happy to see the return of an actual cheery atmosphere again, rather than people tearing at each other or being told depressing stories, in what was the 'Happy Team' to everyone in Beacon Academy. _Yeesh, and I was worried that Ruby's team would have the most drama._The thought reminded Yang of something very horrifying.

"Oh crap, we've got Combat Training tomorrow." She said with a groan, Nora following her lead, the latter not being Goodwitch's favourite pupil. "I just know that we'll be stuck with Team JWPR." She added, making Ren and Blake grimace.

Teams JWPR and BRNY were friends, great friends even. It was just that Pyrrha was a member of Team Jasper, which meant that all four of them often had to plan to fight her and Weiss and Ruby at the same time, which wasn't exactly easy, meaning that they tended to be seen as weaker than they were. Normally, matches with Team CRDL and others showed that they were only second to JWPR, but Professor Goodwitch would still probably kill them if they ended up beating Jaune and then losing to the rest of Team JWPR.

"We might need to have a good rest. Even if we're put into singles, it's good to be ready for what comes after, instead of just being too tired to fight." Blake told them, moving to grab her ribbon again and headed for the bathroom, turning to the rest of them and giving a devious smile. "I also have a plan to combat Pyrrha, in case we do have teams."

_Of course you do._ Yang told herself, before she decided to take a heavy risk. "Blake, are you sure you don't want some catnip for your cat-nap?"

She gave off the biggest grin she had ever given. Blake looked unimpressed, evidence of being offended to the untrained eye, but to Yang, that was evidence that the two had only strengthened their friendship after what had happened. There was no sign of regret in her heart.

"On second thought, I think you would make a great distraction for Pyrrha, Yang." With that, Yang now wondered if there was a way for her to take it all back. "Consider it your punishment." She said, waving a finger before she stalked to the bathroom, Nora laughing behind Yang's back and Ren politely pretending to not be humoured by what just happened.

_Blake Belladona, you are as much a child as the rest of us._ Yang thought to herself, praying to whoever was up there that that would never change.


	5. Jaunedice

**So after that little trip, how about we get back to the canon events, starting with everyone's favourite character, Cardin Winchester! Yes, I know you've all been waiting for him so this entire fic, and I plan on making a fair few changes to the canon, seeing as we have Jaune getting actual training and a hyper-eager team leader on the job. Expect this to be a two-parter, by the way, and Jaune may divide a few readers, if I've done this badly.**

**Either way, hope you enjoy it and remember to give feedback, it helps with the writing process.**

* * *

Jaune was beginning to wonder whether his training had really helped him.

No, that was just him trying to find excuses. The training was probably the only thing that had let him get a few actual hits on Cardin throughout the entire sparring session, even if it still meant that the guy still has his Aura in the green while Jaune's had gone way into the red, and it did mean that his team weren't looking at him funny anymore. He had a lot of reasons for wanting to train by himself, part of it was that he wanted to be stronger on his own. The other was even more personal.

_"Jaune, we don't have to keep doing this." Dad said, crouching next to his panting sparring opponent, and looking at his son with what might as well have been pity. "There's no shame in not getting into one of the schools. You can always go into the private sector, if you want to do something like this. They're a bit less intense."_

_Not good enough, that was what the words meant. Jaune wasn't tough enough, no matter how hard he seemed to try._

Those training sessions hadn't lasted long, mostly because Dad had been called on a lot of jobs and Jaune's mother had been out of practise for way too long for her to serve as a teacher. Even then, Jaune wasn't in the mood to bring bad back memories for the woman who had raised him, plus her weapon had been something completely different from Crocea Mors so it wouldn't have been much help either way.

It still didn't make things better at lunch. If people weren't laughing behind his back, or warning others not to after what happened when his friends heard about it, they tended to be his friends and were focused on babying him after the latest humiliation on the combat arena. He appreciated what they were trying to do for him, but it still felt like he was a kid again and being consoled about not getting into combat school.

"Jaune, you're clearly being bullied." Pyrrha said, snapping him out of his little reflection moment and back to the lunch table.

"Guys, come on. When has he ever bullied me?" He said, laughing off their words. Bullying implied he was some defenceless little kid, needing his parents to back him up, too weak to really do anything for himself. He had went to Beacon to get away from that reputation.

"The time he knocked those books out of your hand, getting your shield stuck on the door," Ruby listed, not quite getting that Jaune was trying to be a grown-up here. "Heck, if it wasn't for Weiss, who knows where that locker could have gone?"

"It wouldn't have landed that far from the school." He meekly argued, before he realised how wimpy he sounded, as he changed his tone to something a bit more confident. "Guys, it's fine. Cardin isn't just a jerk to me, isn't that right, Velv-Oh."

_Smooth move, Jaune._ Blake had suggested that they let Velvet sit with them, mostly since she had a different timetable from the rest of her team and was subjected to a lot of bullying because of it, and everyone seemed fine with it. Jaune had even seen her as a fellow victim of Cardin being a jerk to people, even if he tended to use different ways of bull-messing around with them. She seemed friendly enough, after leaving her shell, with Weiss being infected with nice feelings enough to sit next to him a few times, while Velvet sat next to Blake on the far other side of the table.

Wait. That seemed weird.

Either way, Velvet had now sunk into herself and Blake did not look like she appreciated Jaune's attempted diversion. Pyrrha then leapt in with one of those round things that stop you from drowning that Jaune could totally remember the name for five minutes ago. "Jaune, you can always talk to me if you want help, or anyone here." She said, motioning to all the people on the table.

"We'll break his legs!" Nora cried out, the joy in her voice and merry look in her eye slightly worrying, with the nearby tables looking at her funny.

Jaune was about to stop the pity-fest, remembering how they all went for the poor scraggly kid who wasn't able to defend himself, when he had an unexpected saviour in the form of Weiss Schnee, his sort-of crush and kind-of friend. He thought they were friends, whether Weiss agreed was still up for debate.

"Nora, any retaliation to Cardin for his little tricks should be done by Jaune's team, although the offer is appreciated." Weiss said, more like a teacher talking to a student than to someone her own age. "Secondly, Jaune is an adult, Pyrrha, immaturity aside. I think we can trust him to solve these things on his own, if he thinks he can." She said, turning to Pyrrha, only in a softer voice.

"Thanks Weiss." Jaune replied, happy that she knew that he could deal with his own problems, despite his im-wait a minute. "Hey." He said, realising that she included a stealthy insult.

"Ditch the onesie and we'll talk." Weiss shot, still having no sense of wanting warmth while sleeping. Then again, she did say something about talking. Maybe she was fine with going out with him after all, if only he ditched the same onesie he had worn when he got the news about getting into Beacon, making it a tough choice.

Yang took this moment to confirm Jaune's hopes, with a sinister smile. "About d-"

"No, Yang, no about dating." Weiss said, her voice cold enough to have frozen the table solid. Hiding what was once a hopeful look, Jaune waved his hands rapidly, trying to ward off any sign that he was about to try and negotiate a date from the short cutie, even if Pyrrha seemed to be looking at him with sadness, probably feeling bad about how quickly that all went south.

Some people, mostly Yang and Nora, had been curious about why he was determined to try and win over Weiss. He could see why people didn't think she was 'worth it', when she could be quick-tempered, overly serious, and think that puns are an acceptable form of comedy, but there was something about her that drew him to her. It wasn't just her looks, or how she chose to present herself, in favour of something else.

She talked to him as if he was an adult. Like, an actual adult with thoughts and a desire to not be babied around.

Pyrrha, even though she was one of the coolest people on the planet, was like a teacher and probably had an army of suitors from Vaccuo to Atlas going for her. Everyone else in their group was great, only it did feel as if they were all treading on the issue of him sucking at combat as if he was about to cry, whereas Weiss treated him like a seventeen year-old, rather than a seven year old._ And she is pretty._ He reminded himself.

What? He was a man, society allowed him to be superficial about these things for another decade.

"Oh, I forgot." Jaune almost hit himself, he had been so dense, not having noticed the change for a whole week. "I like the hairstyle, Pyrrha." He said, smiling at his partner, who seemed to take it well.

"Thank you, I thought I'd change it up a bit." She said, although there was a bit of an almost sad tone to it. Nah, she was probably just being humble about the whole thing. "Weiss helped out in getting it right."

Weiss, after hearing that, seemed to enter one of her few moments where she sounded happy. "It was no problem, I was honestly touched when you asked about matching hairstyles. I tried it with Winter, before-" She went back to her food, leaving the whole table wondering what happened, before Weiss spoke in a more subdued tone. "Stuff happened."

"I think your hair looks lovely either way, Pyrrha." Velvet spoke up, the shy girl having gained the confidence she supposedly had only on the battlefield again. A nice little mood had descended on their table, making everyone forget about Jaune's latest humiliation at Combat Training, which was nice since it meant he could forget about the team load.

Naturally, someone had to try and ruin it.

"Looks away guys, this how it starts." Cardin stage-whispered to his team, close enough for them to hear while far enough to pretend they weren't. "No need to see bestiality in action." He told them, making the other three burst into cruel laughter.

If they were trying to make Velvet feel bad, they more than succeeded, getting the rabbit Faunus to sink into her chair, not even knowing that her ears had drooped as well. Under the now-louder laughing from CRDL, tears were starting to develop on Velvet's eyes and the rest of the table didn't seem to appreciate the comment either, as Pyrrha looked ready to stand up and confront Cardin head-on, only to be stopped by Ruby.

"Pyrrha, we can't make a scene, you know the rules." Ruby said quietly, as everyone seemed to notice that most of the student body were ignoring CRDL's antics. Jaune knew they weren't like Cardin in terms of being a jerk, but they were probably going to see any fight as something both sides were at fault for, instead of being provoked by one particularly mean side.

Blake's grip on the table had turned white, and it looked ready to almost break apart, as Yang seemed to be divided between calming her partner down and resisting the urge to do something herself, the same being the case with Nora and Ren. Weiss seemed in better control, probably from years of practising on how to look cool in stressful situations, and Ruby was just sad.

_He's that kind of guy._ Jaune admitted, having seen the types who go straight for the taunts when seeing a Faunus, although a lot got scared off by the White Fang. Heck, even when Jaune was a little kid, he had a warped view of the Faunus, getting from just about everyone but his parents, and the rise of the White Fang had everyone in his class wondering when the Faunus on the other side of town were going to hurt their families.

_"Oh, Jaune," A woman said, as she sat by the kitchen table and attempted to make sure that the crying eight year-old stuck on her chest wouldn't get her flowing brown hair wet. "I don't think we'll ever really understand why the White Fang went this far. We've never really lived their lives." She said soothingly, stroking his hair and probably hoping that the mucus would wash off._

_"What about our family?" A little blonde boy asked, little bits of spittle coming from the gap from his front two teeth missing. He looked uneasy with himself, knowing that his parents didn't know that he could hear them talking about it downstairs about them. "Not Dad's side, the mean side." _

_His mother sighed, before saying something that Jaune wouldn't understand until he was much older. "That's the result of years of indoctrination and madness. From birth to the grave, there's no sense of individuality beyond serving the family name. Everything you did was judged, nothing was truly yours, everything was for the collective, especially for the sort of poisonous thoughts we had beaten into us. The glory we assigned to cruelty." She ranted, leaving little Jaune confused, before she actually looked at him. "Why are you asking this now?"_

_"There was that fire, and that police stand-offing on the news." He said, only lying about where he had heard the news. Dad had been telling Mum about how no one would be coming after them, after they all turned on each other, which confused Jaune since they were apparently all family, so hurting each other seemed just silly._

_"I still can't believe it. I'm the last of the de Rais, funny that." She whispered, Jaune only now realising that she had been saying her thoughts out loud, before she then ruffled his hair and put him onto the ground. "It's nothing you need to worry about, the mean ones have never tried to bother us, not with your father around. Now who wants cookies, while I go and tell your father to spring for better insulation."_

_"Me, me, me." He cried out, already forgetting what he was crying about._

"Atrocious." Pyrrha said, her voice carrying far more anger than Jaune had ever heard from her before. "How did he even get into Beacon, with that sort of attitude?" She asked to no one, Jaune guessed that it was more to vent her feelings than an actual question.

"His team got the Bishops and fought off a few Ursas. That was all the test needed." Blake replied, forced to be level, before she looked down at her food. "There are others who think like that."

Velvet had gone back to being meek and quiet, managing to stop herself from leaving the room in tears, and the whole mood of the group seemed to turn a bit too cold for Jaune's liking. What made it worse was that the looks of sympathy for the Faunus now turned to him, turning into pity for what they probably saw as his inability to defend himself, too wimpy to fight back, too much of a comic relief sort of guy to actually defend himself or others.

It was probably the straw that broke the camel's back that was his appetite.

* * *

"What?" Jaune asked, still a bit taken aback by what Pyrrha just told him on the roof of their dorm room, under the evening sky.

"Jaune, I think we need to train a bit more. We already go over the time limit we normally book the training room for, so Professor Goodwitch might even be happy with us asking for the time we spend there." She said, proof that he hadn't been doing as well as he thought he was.

"You think I'm not good enough?" He asked, already knowing that everyone saw him as the team-load for Team JWPR, although having it confirmed still hurt a bit.

"Jaune, everyone needs a bit of help from time to time," Said Pyrrha, she who had yet to even look like she could lose a match. "It doesn't make them any less for needing it, it's just like what I said last week about group efforts."

"Yeah, and it's a group effort to make me look like I actually deserve to be here." Jaune knew how it was. He had been fine with working with Pyrrha, even if it made him feel like he wasn't like the other students like Ruby or Blake who could actually fight on their own, and he could see himself getting kind of better at swordplay.

Only it was when he fought with Cardin that he realised that he needed to do this himself. It wasn't Jaune's own efforts that let him get those hits on Cardin, it was Pyrrha giving him a leg-up, holding the hand of last-place so that they didn't get lost, the pity case rather than an actual warrior.

"That's an awful thing to say about yourself, of course you deserve to be here." Pyrrha was trying to make him feel better, and failing. It wasn't like he didn't appreciate what she was trying to do, it was just that she didn't know about the real reason that he managed to qualify for Beacon, where everyone got in because they were the best of the best.

"No I don't." He merely told her, not wanting to look her in the eye. _She deserves a better partner._ He admitted to himself, as much as it shamed him to say.

"Jaune Arc," Pyrrha snapped, walking so that she forcibly looked him in the eye, actually sounding stern at him, sort of reminding him of Professor Goodwitch a bit. "You need to stop comparing yourself to warriors in their prime and realise that these are our first days of four years at Beacon, just because you're not at the top doesn't mean that you're not worth anything. You made it into Beacon, you managed to prove yourself to one of, if not the most, selective academies in all of Remnant, out of thousands of applicants."

_But I didn't._ She was trying to rally him, only her words made him feel more and more guilty as he recalled the lies and tricks he used to get here, while the rest of his family were able to rely on their skills and honesty to become heroes. Not noticing his internal self-loathing, Pyrrha went on with her speech.

"I'm sure that your parents see another great addition to the family legacy, it's just that we need to refine that raw talent I know you have. You wouldn't have gotten into Beacon otherwise if you lacked it, so you don't need to be so afraid."

_He was back in the airfield, where all the other prospective Beacon students were being given farewells from their families or already been given them. His mother had given about three different cases filled with clothes and lots of other stuff that Beacon provided, only for her to then argue that it'd be the cheap stuff that doesn't work with his sensitive teeth or his fragile skin, before Dad managed to get her to calm down about that._

_Dad probably cut an impressive figure, even amongst the parents who were Huntsmen and Huntresses themselves, standing at six foot with a thick set of blonde hair and a muscular build, compared with Jaune's scraggly figure. When you added an eyepatch over the left-eye, gained from fighting off an army of Grimm, and two metallic fingers on your left hand, there tended to be an intimidating appearance to you, unless you were Jaune Arc's father, in which case it was just normal and didn't distract from the proud expression at all._

_Neither did his appearance suggest he was anything but proud of Jaune, considering that he handed Crocea Mors over to Jaune and wished him the best of luck at Beacon, along with a reminder to stay safe and follow the lessons he had been taught from his parents. Only to then try and add something._

_"Jaune," Dad had said, just as Jaune was about to turn and head towards the airship, his eye looking at his son's pair with concern. For a few seconds, Jaune was scared that Dad was about to ask about the transcripts he had gave in, or was about to reveal that he had been testing Jaune's honesty the whole time. "Just be careful." He said, Jaune repressing the urge to breathe out in relief._

_The transcripts he got came from a weird network of people, his contact (who refused to give a name) had told him that some guy named Junior ran these kinds of operations, while Jaune only cared about making sure that Beacon didn't call him out on his lies. He was just thankful that they operated on a 'no questions asked' basis._

The memory made listening to Pyrrha's attempt at cheering him up all the worse, as he wondered which poor guy or girl he denied a place for, whether they would have been able to make his team way better. He remembered all the failed tries, the lack of victories when sparring and a whole load of other issues.

It might have been why he snapped.

"You earned your-"

"No I didn't!" He said, nearly shouting the words out. The wind began to blow, almost sounding like a gasp of shock, when Jaune realised what he had just told Pyrrha, someone who believed in fairness and all that good stuff, that he was a liar and cheater.

She seemed too shocked to even say anything. "I-I don't-"

"I got my hands on some faked transcripts which somehow got me in here." Jaune admitted, not sure whether he was ashamed that he did it, or if he felt bad about not feeling bad about what he had did. "I lied. I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass the tests, I just somehow managed to get transcripts that managed to get past Beacon's admin staff. That's the extent of my true ability."

"Why? Why would you do all of that?" Pyrrha asked, the shock in her voice was obvious, although she seemed to hide her probable disgust really well.

"Because I always wanted to be _this_." Jaune said, motioning to...well, everywhere. "To become a hero." He clarified, even if he felt like the exact opposite right now.

He didn't always want to become a Huntsman, that came when he was ten and there had been that incident with the muggers in the park, but he did always want to be the kind of guy who was like the heroes in the books. Mum had been ecstatic, when he talked about what he wanted to be, and Dad was supportive of him like Jaune's parents always were, which made him think at the time that he could do it.

Unfortunately, the Arc family had been living in Atlas, which had combat schools more discerning than Signal was to those at age twelve, the entrance age for those going to a junior combat school.

One failed exam is all you need. Jaune thought, with a rare bitterness, as his training hadn't been enough for the Atlan schools either at thirteen, even with the sporadic training he got from his parents. After he broke his leg and had to stay in the hospital for three months, even after they moved to Vale, getting into Signal had failed again for his fourteen year old self, the last year that failures had a chance to try again having been missed out. By the time he left, his balance was off and the moment had passed.

For a year, he let his training slide after he gave up hope and focused on schoolwork. Getting back into the flow was difficult, but he had shown talent, only it wouldn't have nearly been enough to qualify for Beacon or the other schools, and Jaune had been tired of not making the mark.

"My father, my grandfather and his father before him. They were all heroes, fighting against the odds." He explained, remembering all the times that his ancestors had made themselves into heroes, while he remained the family disappointment.

_He saw his dad, about twenty years younger, hacking down Beowolves and Ursi by the dozens, his armour breaking into pieces before Grimm's assault only to not give up against the odds. Fending off the black head of a King Taijitu that had stuck its jaw on the left arm armour and piercing Crocea Mors onto the jaw of the white head, and then sacrificing his left eye to save a kid left behind in the evacuation from the stringer of a Deathstalker, leaving a scar barely covered by an eyepatch. _  
_  
_  
_Jaune could imagine miles and miles of desert, his Granddad clashing again and again with the Ratking. The hilt of Crocea Mors had been different, slots available to it for which to infuse the metal with a Dust reaction, enough to engulf the blade in roaring flame, as he used those flames to scare off the Grimm that served in the Court of Maggots. The half-man, half-Grimm freak using its claws to clash open the hero's stomach, only to expose itself to the strike that would take off its head. _

_Godfrey Arc probably would have laughed at the failure of his descendent. Jaune needed constant training to land a few hits, and his Great-Granddad was basically a farmer's son who could carry a man on the left side of his back as he guided others to safety, fending off enemy soldiers with a blade he created himself, without having to kill a single enemy. He could picture the final hurdle, arrows sticking out of his ancestor's back, not even deterring him from directing the boat across the river that would carry the group home, saving thousands of lives._

_And my mother's family were state-sanctioned psychopaths with fancy weapons._ Jaune found it worrying that imagining the deeds of Mum's side of the family made him feel better about his own many failures as a warrior. _I guess it's better to have no talent than evil talent._ He decided, half-heartedly.

Pyrrha looked worried for him. "I know that, but you have to let your team he-"

"I want this to be my achievement!" He snapped, letting loose feelings he had cooped up inside for years, letting it all fall out. "I'm tired, so damn tired. Of being the load, the joke, the idiot who people only keep around because they pity him enough to pretend he's worth a damn."

Those words reminded of him when he had tried to help his dad with those muggers, he thought that those five thugs might have hurt him, without his weapon, so he had tried to leap at them from the tree he had been climbing to surprise him. Like nearly everything he did, that had been a failure.

_"It's okay, Jaune." Marie Arc told a sobbing child, rubbing his back and trying to make the tears go away, even as she had to hold back her own. "No one's mad at you. Philip knows you tried to help, he's not mad at all."_

_He should have been mad. Jaune had leapt from the tree, making one of the muggers swear in fright, only to land in a small and empty trashcan, getting half of his body trapped and leaving his legs flailing about for anyone to attack. He could hear muggers trying to grab them, probably as a hostage against Dad, only for the lot of them to start getting beaten up, only for Dad to scream out loud and for the sounds of running to be heard to a little child._

_It had been when Dad pulled him out, with a single hand, that Jaune discovered that his father lost two of his left hand's fingers to stop the last mugger from stabbing Jaune near a major artery._

"Even during Initiation, I was just stuck in a tree while waiting for someone to come for me." He vented, feeling even worse from that trip down memory lane. "What if something happened? I would have been a waste of space while someone fought for their lives." He told Pyrrha, who looked appalled with him.

"Ja-" She tried to say more, but Jaune went on.

"If I have to have my hand held to do this, if I can't even get strong enough to get someone down to orange Aura, then why am I even here?" He asked, not knowing if he was even talking to Pyrrha or if weeks of guilt and years of failure had finally got to him.

Pyrrha moved forward, trying to grab his arm for something, only Jaune moved away, deciding to build some distance between the two. "Just leave me alone."

It's for the best. I need to stand on my own two feet. He told himself, only he was beginning to feel more like a jerk than a hero. Pyrrha still seemed taken aback from all that Jaune said, but it was her hands that had made Jaune himself shocked, gripping themselves white, which pretty much told him that she was holding back a lot of rage. She seemed ready to snap, before her face became miserable and she turned back. "If that's what you think is best."

Leaving him with those words, Pyrrha walked back to the entrance to the roof, looking more like Velvet during lunch than the super-student she normally was. Seeing her like that only made Jaune feel worse, forcing her to be the victim of his rant over his own lack of ability, the need to be the hero he always wanted to be and could try acting more like. _I should apologise. She's only trying to be a good partner._ He decided, before the worst thing possible happened.

"And here I thought you didn't have the balls." Cardin Winchester said, climbing up onto the room and painfully putting a hand onto Jaune's shoulder. "Takes a kind of guy to sneak into Beacon, didn't think you were that kind, Jauney boy. Not to mention that it takes balls to show Pyrrha Nikos where she can take that little 'too good for us mere mortals' act."

The way Cardin put it made Jaune disgusted with himself. The wind had that gaspy sort of blow again, and Jaune could already feel his legs become jelly from sheer fear of what was about to happen next, Cardin could tell the school faculty and then get Jaune in a whole load of trouble, alongside him being kicked out of Beacon. Pyrrha could also get into trouble, for not telling the staff immediately, and then the whole team would suffer for Jaune's mistake.

"Cardin, please don't tell." Jaune asked, hoping to whoever was up there that Cardin was not a big a jerk as he appeared, only to see Cardin laugh in a way that didn't inspire hope in Jaune.

"Jaune, why would I rat out on a friend?" Cardin asked, even when Jaune knew that he wasn't supposed to answer that question. "Yeah, Schnee and her little puppy threatened me before History class, in case you were wondering, but we've always been best buds."

"Ack-friends-agh?" His attempt at making Cardin elaborate were kind of hampered by the guy wrapping his arm around the back of Jaune's neck and putting a lot of pressure, making the 'friendly' gesture almost choke Jaune to death.

"Yeah man, I look out for you and you look out for me." He said, although it soon became clear what he was going to demand in exchange for his silence, causing Jaune's stomach to drop down to his shoes. "Come back here, the same time tomorrow evening, if you wanna know more. Think you can do that for me?" He all but commanded, the question at the end basically a demand.

I really don't want to. Jaune wanted to say, now wishing that he just listened to his father when he suggested forgoing Beacon for working for the SDC or some other private company, or his contact's advice about going to Junior himself. Anything would be better than the shit he was in now.

"Sure." He replied, in the weakest voice he ever spoke with. The wind near the entrance began to rush, although Jaune was now convinced that, seeing as it came from the inside, it was more the air-conditioning sputtering about. Just his luck.

"And getting the room to be more than a damn sauna is a miracle." Cardin grumbled, his poor luck with the dorm's heating being a bit of solace for Jaune's troubles, before the bully went back to his over-confident stance again. "I'll see you then, Jaune. Your secret's safe with me."

As Cardin went back to his room, via climbing down from the roof, Jaune began to wonder if he shouldn't just explain the whole thing to Professor Goodwitch and let the consequences of his actions hit him as he deserved. If he explained the whole thing, it'd get Pyrrha out of trouble and might even get Cardin into trouble instead, for intending to keep the knowledge from the staff and using it for blackmail, create a little bit of justice for what the jerk was planning.

_But then I'd have to leave._ Jaune would get his petty revenge and then look his parents in the eye and admit to being kicked out of Beacon for being a liar. He'd have to tell them about his deal with probable-criminals and how they may deal with being seen as having a cheat for a son, while he'd need to tell everyone back home what really happened, which would stick with him for the rest of his life.

Not only that, but he would also lose contact with his friends. People like Blake and Ren who had a passion for what was right beneath their calm attitude, people like Yang and Nora who would get overexcited but always meant well and fought hard for their friends, not to mention his team. He'd lose out on seeing Ruby become the best team leader there was, he'd never be able to truly tell Weiss why he liked her, he'd let his friendship with Pyrrha collapse because he had to open his big mouth and let his macho crap ruin his dream. He'd lose out on the only people outside his family who really believed in him.

The answer was obvious.

"Just swallow your pride, Jaune. It'll be for the best." He told himself, completely and utterly lying.

* * *

"Psst." A certain voice tried to whisper, as Jaune reached his dorm room's floor. "Jaune."

Having reached his dorm room's floor, and trying to get to his room and sleep this day away, Jaune instead found his team leader in her pyjamas with her back pressed right onto the wall, as if she was in one of those old spy movies. The impact might have been greater, had she not been wearing her pyjamas, so he was left feeling a bit confused. "Ruby, what are y-"

"What were you and Pyrrha fighting about?" Ruby asked, only she couldn't apparently decide between whispering and using her regular voice, meaning that Jaune got some strange stage-whisper instead.

"It's nothing. I was just being stupid." He said, deciding that he never appreciated the look of the carpet before.

"That's what Weiss said to me, before Pyrrha said it wasn't like that but it was, but it wasn't, and now the two are grabbing coffee." Ruby said, frowning at those last few words, before she looked back at Jaune. "You might want to wait a while before going back." She warned, with a slight giggle.

_Great, making sure that everything gets screwed up._ Truly Jaune was worthy of the name Arc and all that it meant. "It's been that kind of day." He admitted, moving to scratch the back of his head.

"Yeah," Ruby added, looking a bit downcast, before returning to determination. "Jaune, you can trust me as your leader. You can tell me anything."

"I know that, Ruby." Jaune replied, guessing that she wanted to make sure that everyone thought she was being a good team leader. Not to say, she wasn't, Jaune told himself. "Things have just been getting a bit stressed."

"Don't worry, Jaune, Ruby Rose is on the case. Team Jasper isn't going down into misery without a fight." Ruby said, her voice back to its normal volume, adopting a superhero-like pose with her right hand doing a mix between a thumbs-up and pointing at herself.

"Yeah." Jaune said, feeling a little bit inspired by Ruby's words. That seemed enough for her to go running back to their dorm, while Jaune was trying to figure out whether he go to their dorm room while he still had a chance to sleep before Pyrrha and Weiss got back, until his body made the decision for him.

Today had gone on for long enough. He decided, trudging himself towards their dorm room as well, hoping to avoid both Pyrrha and Weiss and to go to bed quickly. Ruby and Weiss had claimed the bunk beds, so distance from Pyrrha would be easy, he'd just have to sleep the night through and then he'd wake up to a new day where he'd find out how Cardin would be blackmailing him for the rest of his life at Beacon.

"Some hero you turned out to be." Jaune said to himself, feeling like having a turn at beating himself up.

Life seemed to think it was fun, so why not?

* * *

**TLDR; Being Jaune is suffering.**


	6. Red Like Roses

**Now we're going to take a look at Ruby Rose, an actual favourite character. Hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Ruby knew that she wasn't all that smart. Well, smart in the sense of paying attention throughout the entire class, and in the sense of making friends who weren't her sister until about a month ago, which was something she never really needed to pay attention to, even when Yang said that it would help her grow, only Ruby thought it was the straightforward kind of grow ins-

_Gah. Focus, Ruby._She told herself, shaking her head as if to shake away the thoughts themselves, trying to keep her cool pose on the top of the roof entrance. Any other time, she'd be fine with letting her thoughts wonder, but this was important Team JWPR business that couldn't be allowed to be ignored in favour of anything else that was happening, and Team Leader Ruby wasn't going to stop until it was resolved.

She felt like X-Ray, watching over all the crimes that happened across Achievement City, only without her trusty partner Vav (played by Weiss) to watch her back against the evils that lurked around every corner. One such evil was the evil of blackmail, forcing people to follow the whims of total bullies and jerks like Cardin Winchester, and the victim was Jaune Arc who had been peeped on by said villain.

Being serious, it was actually a serious thing that Jaune did, falsifying his transcripts to get into Beacon. Ruby remembered how Goodwitch reacted after her little battle with Roman Torchwick and his goons, so she didn't want to see what she would do to her teammate for having lied to the school about his qualifications, without the defeat of a well-known criminal to soften the blow, before kicking him out of the school.

Ruby didn't want Jaune to be made to leave Beacon, and she could tell that the whole group, even Weiss, would feel the same way about the crisis on their hands. At the same time, she realised that Cardin blackmailing Jaune into doing whatever he liked was something that Ruby could not allow, already knowing that it would be something totally humiliating and lasting for the entire four years at Beacon.

Was Jaune a bit much? Maybe. Could he get caught up in his macho-man stuff? Definitely. Did he deserve what could happen to him? Heck, no.

With that, after classes ended and Cardin waved his goons over to probably tell them about the dirt he had, Ruby moved swiftly to the rooftops of their dorm. She knew that Team CRDL would be planning on waiting for Jaune to arrive soon, half an hour at least, with their little list of demands for him to carry out, little knowing that Team JWPR's fearless leader Ruby Rose was already on their case. She planned on being the leader that the team deserved, taking Weiss and Professor Ozpin's advice to heart.

"When's Arc supposed to get here?" The guy with the blue hair, Sky something, asked. He seemed nervous, as all evildoer's minions were, their lack of importance in the wider story allowing them to grasp the wrongness of their actions.

"Relax, Sky, just be patient. Our new homework mule will be getting here soon." Cardin said, not even caring about how he had managed to force Jaune into such a situation, angering Ruby enough for her to make her presence known.

"The only homework he'll be doing is his own." Ruby declared, taking up a superhero-like stance from atop the roof entrance, cutting a rather dashing figure with a cape flowing in the wind and a defiant look towards Team CRDL, not even backing down from Cardin's glare.

"So Jaune really is that stupid." He muttered, probably assuming that Ruby hadn't been able to hear him, before he went back to his usual mocking-self. "Did he ask one of his little girlfriends to defend his honour?" He spoke with a jeer, which predictably got his sidekicks laughing all over the place.

"Jaune doesn't know that I'm here, and we're going to keep it that way." Ruby said, leaping down from where she stood to look at her fellow leader right in the eye, using her serious voice. "Cardin, you're going to tell him that you won't say anything and that his secret is going to be safe, with no strings attached." She demanded, standing firm against the four, despite them towering over her.

"Yeah, and then maybe I'll kiss Velvet." Cardin replied, Ruby taking that as a no, only for Dove to look at Cardin funny, before the latter looked back and sighed. "Not happening, Dove."

"Oh." The sandy-haired member said, looking embarrassed with himself, getting little sympathy from the other members.

Ruby decided to try and appeal to the part of him that was supposed to have been why he wanted to be a Huntsman. "Cardin, we're both team leaders. We both know about the faith that our teams put in us and the example we have to lead, so why are you doing all of this?" She asked, a part of her genuinely curious as to why he acted like this.

"It's fun?" He replied, the smirk on his face rising, only for Ruby's relentless glare to make him answer truthfully. "Nah, that's not the reason."

"Whatever it is, it's not as important as the duties we have." Ruby pointed out, once more putting faith in Cardin's sense of justice, the same thing that made him want to try and help people as a Huntsman, even if it was in vain. "So you're going to stop blackmailing Jaune." She demanded, following Weiss' advice on being gentle and firm as a good leader.

I bet she'd be so amazed, seeing me now. Ruby proudly thought to herself, imagining what the white-haired girl would say, seeing this scene play out. 'That Ruby girl is so cool and amazing,' The dream Weiss swooned. 'I'm so glad that we're best friends forever and that I let her have all the cookies she wants.'

The fantasy, unfortunately, had been shattered, by Cardin's next words. "Or what?" Cardin said, his voice taking a dangerous turn, the sort of tone that someone about to concede rarely took. "You'll tell on mean old Cardin?"

Ruby was beginning to see where her plan lost some of its strength, since she couldn't tell on Cardin's blackmail scheme without revealing the thing that Jaune was being blackmailed for. All it would accomplish would be getting Cardin and his team in trouble as well, but not nearly as much as Jaune would be.

That didn't mean that she was going to give up, Ruby simply needed to shift the plan a little bit. Maybe it was time for her to use the stick, instead of the carrot, when it came to making Cardin back down on all this, she knew that Team CRDL thought they were tough, but not enough to deal with Team JWPR when they were protecting their team.

"I'll tell Pyrrha and Weiss about what you're trying to do to our team, if you try and do this." She warned, only now thinking of telling Pyrrha about what Cardin's manipulations. She had her speed Semblance, only she needed to save time if she didn't want CRDL to go to any of the teachers and Pyrrha was more likely to help.

_Weiss would just tell me to go to the teachers, or let Jaune face the consequences._Ruby knew that Weiss didn't hate Jaune for his many attempts at getting a date, it was just that Weiss was a stickler for rules and may not see the bigger picture which saving their team.

Cardin didn't seem impressed by her threat, either way. "Oh yeah, and then they'll beat us up and we can just tell everyone why you did it." He grunted, moving his hands to his pockets and looking back at his team. "You didn't think this through, did you?" He added, his whole team looking at Ruby as if she was a joke.

"You're going to ruin someone's dream! All because you want to be a bunch of jerks?" Ruby snapped, a rare boiling anger bubbling up inside her, all because Cardin couldn't just do the right thing.

"Jaune ruined someone else's dream." Cardin replied, as Ruby couldn't find the right words to counter that. "I'm not claiming to be a paragon of virtue, but I'm sure that whoever got bumped off in favour of him was pretty bummed out." He continued, leaving her to just ball her fists and glare at him.

"Don't get too mean, Cardin. She might cry to Pyrrha." Russell shouted out, moving his hands to his eyes and acting like he rubbing tears from them, treating her like she was some kind of little kid.

"Yeah, and then she can have two babies to handle." Cardin said, laughing all the while, before looking down on her. "I can see Nikos fighting for Jaune's secret though, it must mean the world to her."

"What do you mean?" Ruby knew that asking such a question would be a bad idea, since Cardin's answer would only make her angry. She prepared herself to stay calm against the insults directed at her teammates. _Don't hit them if they insult Pyrrha, they're just trying to wind you up._ Her brain commanded.

"Come on, you don't really buy that Ms Holier-Than-You crap, do you? She must love having a partner nice and dependent on her, without him ever getting too tough to outshine her, to keep the ego-boost going." Cardin explained, every single word making Ruby more and more horrified that people actually thought that about Pyrrha, one of the nicest people she knew.

"Pyrrha's actually a good person, unlike you." She said, the second that Cardin finished his little speech, not moving one inch.

It was obvious that Cardin did not take her words well, actually looking angry with Ruby and moving forward, in what she guessed was a way to intimidate her. "You wanna repeat that?"

"Come on, Cardin. She's just trying to copy Schnee, like a good little puppy." Sky shouted out, his worried look contradicting his arrogant words, only Ruby felt confused about what he was talking about. What did he mean by little puppy? She wondered, already knowing it wasn't something good.

"Everyone in school was talking about how you followed Weiss Schnee around the school for the first week, trying to get her attention. Only, she liked Pyrrha more than you, so you ended up like someone who couldn't take a hint until she took pity on you." Russell explained, before all four members of CRDL began laughing, Cardin moving away from her while he did so.

Ruby had to restrain herself from saying anything. She wasn't just upset about her friendship with Weiss being the butt of a joke, Ruby also tried to ignore their claims that people thought that the only reason that they were friends was because Weiss saw Ruby as a charity case, which was a big fat lie.

_It was a lie? Right? _Ruby had to stop herself from actually shaking her head, but forced those thoughts out anyway. _No, Weiss and I are friends now and we don't have to be cruel to get along. Not like these bunch of bullies, pretending to want to be heroes._

"Uh oh, I think she's about to cry, Cardin." Dove said, acting scared and putting up a show of panic, flinging his arms about and taking up a horrified tone. "She might get Ozpin to put us into detention." He said, earning a pat on the back from his partner for his little joke.

"Nah, she'll cry and get Nikos and Schnee to beat us up for making her cry." Russell added, making all of them laugh at the idea, Ruby keeping herself under control. She may be the youngest student at Beacon, but that didn't mean she was the most childish, unlike the four jerks in front of her, getting their laughs from hurting people like Velvet and Jaune.

"Or she'll just get her Mummy to call our parents." Sky said, getting Dove and Cardin to laugh, only for Russell's face to look fearful, muttering about how his mother would kill him if she got that kind of call. "I wasn't being serious, you dolt." Sky smacked Russell on the back of his head, only Ruby was being not trying to pounce at them for that.

"I can see her crying to her though, 'Mummy, these mean kids at school made fun of me, I wanna go home', right?" Cardin asked, Ruby ignoring his poor imitation of her voice and more focusing on what he said about her mother.

As Team CRDL laughed, a part of Ruby pointed out that Cardin couldn't have known that her mother had passed away and left her alone forever.

Another part of her admitted that, despite being a jerk, none of the members of Team CRDL were so cruel as to have made such jokes if they knew that Summer Rose would never be able to make or hear such calls.

A third part of her made a note that, even if she ignored the other two, she should try and remember that she did not have Crescent Rose on her and that she would be outnumbered by four to one, if she tried to fight them on the roof of the school.

All of those parts, however, were not nearly enough to have stopped her from punching Cardin right in the face, moving her fist back to find a spatter of blood on the knuckles and caked above Cardin's mouth. His team wasn't laughing any more, staring at Ruby in shock at what she had just done to their 'untouchable' leader, who had just registered what happened to him.

"So this is how it's going to go down?" He asked, already knowing the answer. Forcing himself up, he cracked his fists and looked straight at Ruby, who once more stood her ground against the mob forming against her. "Sure, why not?"

* * *

_I think I did pretty well._ Ruby thought, looking at herself in the mirror of Team JWPR's bathroom, reminding herself of how Yang sometimes appeared after a night-out and didn't want Dad to find out. He always found out, but Ruby wasn't dealing with her dad, and was confident that a bit of make-up could hide enough of the injuries for her Aura to do the rest.

Her left eye now was a lot darker than it used to be, yes, and her nose was still often letting a bit of blood run down it, while one of the right side of her teeth felt a lot more wobbly than normal, only all of these could be solved with a bit of make-up. The bruises on one of her shoulders, her stomach and sides were a bit more tricky, only a good night's sleep should be able to cure that particular problem, as long as she made sure to sleep on the right side (where there were the least wounds) of her body.

All in all, despite the many colours that surrounded her body, Ruby had still managed to win and end the whole blackmail thing.

_Team CRDL were scattered across the roof, their noses broken, uniforms stained with blood and spittle, and all having lost the will to fight any further. Ruby had lacked her weapon and teammates, but only she had a Semblance where they hadn't, meaning that she could always have the speed advantage against them, which had allowed for her to gain the victory and the right to stand over Cardin Winchester and issue her demands._

_"You tell...Jaune," Ruby said, so tired that she had to take pauses to breathe, as well as let sharp pains all over her body pass. "...that the deal's...off." She told him, making it clear that this was a demand, not a request._

_"Okay...okay." Cardin admitted, his face looking too bloody and tired for him to try and consider the matter worth fighting, Ruby's attack on his legs had made any betrayal impossible. "I'll...leave a note."_

_"Good." Ruby merely said, the anger that pushed her into fighting now gone, making her wonder if the whole thing had really been a good idea in the first place, now that her uniform was covered in blood that was both hers and CRDL's. It was a small blessing that students were given more than one, and that the laundry system was so efficient._

_Stumbling towards the roof entrance, Ruby could have sworn that she heard either Cardin or one of his friends say something. "You...alright?" The voice asked, Ruby merely turning and giving a smile and thumbs-up as her answer._

_With that, and with a fair amount of pain in using her Semblance with her injuries, Ruby rushed off towards Team JWPR's dorm room, knowing that it would be empty for a good long while. It hurt a slight bit for the entire way, only once she managed to get into the bathroom and lock the door, Ruby already felt the pain fade away as she was safely secure here, with enough time to clean up and take some painkillers. Just like a super-cool hero, no one would have to know about Ruby's heroics this night._

_It's a good thing Weiss has so much make-up._Ruby thought, also being thankful for everyone in her team either being in the library or in the training room, while Team BRNY were in their own dorm room. _Explaining this to Yang wouldn't have been fun._ She grimaced as she pictured Yang heaving a heart attack over what had happened to her 'baby sister'.

If her injuries hadn't completely healed up by tomorrow, she would just tell her team that she fell down some stairs and got a few nasty wounds on the way down. A sudden need to cough brought about a lot of pain to Ruby, all across her stomach, as proof that that right punch from Cardin had been a lot tougher than she first thought. _I'll say I was running as well._ Ruby decided, hoping to make the story believable.

Even though they hurt, however, Ruby was still kind of proud of her wounds, bruises, blood and all. It was proof that she was a true team leader, that she had been able to stand up for her team and the people in it from bullies, that she could rise up against the odds and come out a winner, a champion of her team, and that she was also one tough little cookie, if she'd say so herself.

_Bear through it, Ruby. _She told herself, wincing as another tissue soaked in warm water was used to dab at her nose, where the blood had dried, but it still hurt to touch. _It's all part of being the best team leader that you can be._ The thought made the experience hurt slightly less, as her face now looked barely like she had just been in a big fight, which was the important thing.

There was the matter of the school uniform, which lacked Aura and thus still looked as messy as it had since the fight had ended, meaning that Ruby needed to get it cleaned without the stains being noticed. It was a small miracle that she had taken her pyjamas into the bathroom as well, which made changing into them much easier, so subtly adding her clothes to the pile going towards cleaning would be easy. Everything was going to be alright, in Ruby's mind.

So imagine her shock when, after opening the bathroom door and aiming to go straight to bed, Ruby found the whole of Team JWPR there. Not only that, but it soon became apparent that all three seemed curious as to what had happened to their team leader, if the stares of horror were anything for her to go by.

_Think of something. Quick. _Ruby thought fast. "Hey guys, I was running up the stairs and, clumsy me, I tripped and hurt myself but I'm fine now so I'm gonna go to bed now night." Ruby said, sure that she began to talk way too fast at the end, as she rushed to the top bunk of her and Weiss' bunk-bed, while Weiss didn't seem remotely convinced..

"Ruby, wait, your uniform is a-" Weiss' hands moved forward, grabbing at the side of Ruby's chest that had the most wounds, the pain striking at Ruby enough to make her fall down to the floor, where the pain that came from the impact was enough to make her howl in pain. Her school uniform falling to the floor, evidently what gave her away, was now ignored in favour of trying to quiet herself down.

_Owowowowow. _That had been the only thought on her mind, as tears gathered around her eyes again and her appearance suggested that her story had been anything but true, which wasn't something that Ruby really wanted her team to figure out.

"Ruby, there are injuries from falling down stairs and there are your injuries." Pyrrha said, giving off a maternal feeling for Ruby, moving down to her level and carrying her to the lower bunk, Weiss not even raising a word of protest. "How did this happen?" She asked, forcing Ruby to try and think of the right st-

"I think I know what this was." Jaune said, interrupting Ruby's planning, a rare look of pure determination taking over his face, as he moved to leave the room. "I need to go an-"

"No, Jaune, I already ended it." Ruby all but shouted, getting Jaune to stop from essentially fighting a half-dead team, only for her to realise what she had just done.

Pyrrha, Jaune and Weiss were all looking at her, with mixtures of horror, worry and pity, as Pyrrha gently put a hand on her shoulder, only not before she looked at Ruby to make sure that she hadn't pressed on some sort of bruise. "Ruby, was this some sort of arr-"

"No, I hit them first and won the fight." Ruby replied, cutting Pyrrha off and smiling at her team, hoping for the matter to be dropped. It only took a few seconds for her to figure out that that moment had long since passed, with Weiss in particular appearing determined to find out what had happened to her teammate. _Oh dear._ Was the main sentiment in her mind.

"Ruby," Weiss asked, almost afraid to actually touch Ruby. "Is someone trying to bully you?" She asked, now gazing right at Ruby's shiner, which really wasn't that bad, but it still made Ruby uncomfortable to see Weiss so worried.

"No, Weiss. It was just..." Ruby was still certain that telling the truth would be a bad idea, only she now regretted not coming up with other excuses for her injuries outside of falling down stairs. "Stuff."

The sheer pain in Weiss' expression hurt Ruby more than any of the wounds she had on her. "Ruby Rose. As your partner, and hopefully your friend, I need you to be honest with me." She said, with a rare fragile tone, before going back to her normal voice. "Who did this to you, why did they do it, and why were you trying to hide it from us?" She asked, only it had been a clear demand.

Ruby tried to change the subject. "I told you, I won the f-"

"That's not a name."

"It's complicated, but these injuries can be healed with Aura and sleep, I thin-"

"Ruby! I will get Yang in here and tell her to go nuts in trying to find out what happened." Weiss said, as she moved to stand up and carry out her promise.

The second that Yang would hear the words 'Ruby got hurt by someone', Ruby knew that her older sister would tear apart the entire dormitory and set fire to the remains in her quest to discover who had managed to deal damage to Ruby. It would be obvious that everyone would then find out about what happened, and Ruby could guess that the aftermath would include everyone finding out about Jaune's faked transcripts, meaning that the whole evening would be for nothing.

"It was Team CRDL." Ruby admitted, looking down at the covers of Weiss' bed.

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed dangerously, as if she had to restrain herself from standing up and marching all the way to CRDL's dorm to personally give them a further beating, Ruby almost scared by how furious she looked. Jaune appeared miserable, looking to have figured out why a confrontation started, and Ruby had to stop herself from assuring him that it wasn't his fault, to stop the reason from being known as well.

It was Weiss that shocked Ruby most. Her partner seemed to freeze up after hearing those words, her expression ominously calm, only for her to then stand up straight and move to grab Myrtenaster, a weapon that Ruby could already guess was not going to be used to foster a new, peaceful understanding between the two teams.

"Are you going to break their legs?" Pyrrha asked, her voice suggesting that she wouldn't try to stop Weiss if that was her aim.

"Broken legs can be healed. I'm going to pierce their kneecaps and freeze them in place, making recovery impossible for all but the finest of medical professionals." Weiss explained, examining her rapier before she moved to leave the room itself. Ruby could only watch and fear for whether Weiss actually meant to carry out her threat, rather than just exaggerating her point.

"Weiss, I already handled it." Ruby said, stretching out her arms as far as she could, ignoring the pains, and succeeding in getting Weiss to look back at her. "Please. I just wanted to be the leader you guys deserve." She said, feeling like a baby for being unable to do this one thing without having someone panic over her.

Ruby wondered whether she said the wrong thing, as Weiss looked like her partner's words had hurt her somehow, only to almost sigh in relief when Weiss put Myrtenaster down. It was probably too much for Ruby to hope that Weiss wouldn't do anything, when the white-haired girl still left the room giving off a cold presence, while Ruby remained on the bed. _Great job, Ruby. Some X-Ray you turned out to be._

After the door closed, Pyrrha moved over to try and help Ruby heal faster, the two of them worked to have her Aura go faster in repairing the more serious damage along the area around the chest, and Ruby could already feel herself getting better. It was only when Jaune opened his mouth that Ruby began to worry again. "Pyrrha, I think I know why Ruby got into that fight."

Before he could go on, Weiss had already barged into the door, her fists balled up and her face as red as Ruby's cloak. It only took a brief look at who she locked eyes with for Ruby to realise that Cardin had the truth forced out of him, and that Jaune was about to be the victim of Weiss Schnee's wrath, as Pyrrha rushed to his side, probably afraid of what Weiss might do. Ruby could already guess that Pyrrha figured out what happened, having been there when Jaune confessed his secret.

"Jaune, why did Cardin think that he could blackmail you?" Weiss asked, the blonde being reluctant to speak, which made her all the angrier. "If you have any respect for me, Ruby, or this team, you will tell us exactly what was important enough for five people to bloody and bruise themselves over, and secretive enough that Ruby tried to avoid the infirmary."

"I falsified my records at Beacon, and I mentioned it in an argument with Pyrrha." Jaune said, looking down to the ground in shame, as Ruby lost one of the victories that she gained from that fight. "I didn't have the combat skills, or any skills, s-"

Ruby was ready for a slap or for a furious lecture towards Jaune, so Weiss smashing her right fist onto the left side of Jaune's face was a shock.

Pyrrha managed to save her partner from any further attack, wrapping her arms around Weiss' stomach and dragging her away, before she could do any further damage to Jaune. Not appreciating this, Weiss then went for a verbal insult instead, the words either washing over Jaune or hitting him directly, Ruby and Pyrrha looked at one another and let it go on, hoping that it would serve as a way for Weiss to release her feelings without attacking Jaune further.

"-not only did you rob someone of their chance to go to Beacon, but your selfishness also had Ruby injure herself for you! Who knows what they could have done to her! Let me g-"

"Weiss! I know you're upset, but please, don't take it out on him." Pyrrha all but begged, putting Weiss down on the other side of the room, only to nearly get down on her knees before the Schnee heiress."I knew his secret as well, I should have told you both, I know, but I was too self-absorbed in my own issues. Weiss, I'm begging you, please calm down."

It was only because of Pyrrha's words that Weiss managed to control herself, only she became more and more furious with every second that she saw of Jaune, who was occupied with rubbing his cheek and standing up again. Even if Jaune felt bad, and it was obvious that he did, Weiss was ready to snap at any moment, unless Ruby did something. _You need to say something, Ruby Rose._ Her brain pointed out, while her body moved into action.

"Weiss," Ruby was thankful that it had been her voice that made Weiss stop her attack. "Please stop fighting. We're supposed to be a team, it's why I did this in the first place. To be the team leader JWPR deserves." She said this with her standard bright smile, even if it had been undermined by her lower lip having been cut somewhat.

"You don't deserve her as your team leader." Weiss spoke with a growls, with all the hate in it directed at Jaune, before moving towards Ruby's position and looking over her body and the injuries it had on it. "We need someone to get Ruby into the nurse's office, Goodwitch might be able to help."

"I'll do it." Jaune volunteered, having moved himself to the other side of the room to avoid Weiss, who barely acknowledged his words. "Ruby, I'm really sorry." He said, Ruby about to say that she forgave him, only for her partner to cut in.

"If you were sorry, you'd move faster." She said, her voice being pure ice, not even looking at him or turning away from Ruby.

Jaune seemed to understand and left the room, still ashamed of himself. The mood of the room was miserable, Weiss seemed desperate in making sure that Ruby was comfortable, Pyrrha was trying to comfort Ruby while also attempting to find a way to reconcile Jaune with Weiss and Ruby herself had just seen her team divide itself again. It all made her feel tired, school and the fight on the roof having taken a lot out of her.

"I told you I could be a good leader." Ruby said, deciding to take comfort in the fact that she had saved Jaune from being blackmailed by Cardin, and from being kicked out of Beacon. She had still won the main battle, and that was the important thing to remember.

"The best leader, I remember it going." Weiss replied, smiling at Ruby gently, a mirror image of Pyrrha, since the both of them had that angled-ponytail thing going on.

"Thank you, Vav. That's all I need." Ruby murmured, feeling herself fall into sleep, to the sounds of Weiss asking what she meant by that.

* * *

"Ms Rose, do you know why Beacon takes a firm stance on falsified records?"

Professor Goodwitch had been with Ruby all morning, after dragging the members of Teams JWPR and BRNY away from her bedside to get to classes, and had even helped out in making sure that that she had been aware of all the flowers, chocolates, cookies and gifts that were left to her. The X-Ray and Vav collection from CRDL had taken her by surprise, even if Goodwitch told her that Cardin wanted it clear that he was only doing it to save himself from Yang Xiao Long.

Yeah, and Blake is actually a man.

Either way, Professor Goodwitch was still talking to her and was possible the only person to scare Ruby into quiet compliance, even when holding an ice pack to the sole of her right foot, Ruby recalling having felt a pain there after she leapt from the corner of the roof entrance, breaking Dove's nose in the flying punch. The nurse was busy with the four other patients, so Goodwitch had apparently volunteered to take up caring for Ruby while others made sure that a whole team wasn't out of commission, which did make the youngest Beacon student feel good about herself.

_Ruby, don't laugh, however much it feels funny. _Her brain demanded, knowing that death by Goodwitch would not be fun, as Ruby struggled to follow the instruction and keep to the conversation. "No."

"We at Beacon hold a very high standard for our students, and thus they are often selected for the more risk-filled missions, meaning that the teams we choose must be able to adapt to any situation." Professor Goodwitch explained, her expression still as a stone and she looked Ruby right in the eye. "This includes being able to fight at a certain level, without needing to go all-out and thus risking your own life and the lives of those around you."

"Maybe they can get better over time?" Ruby suggested, Jaune's training with Pyrrha already being a great help in improving his swordsmanship, a few more months and he might even be able to qualify for the Vytal Tournament.

"Maybe, or they remain at their level, still perfectly respectable in many other institutions, and die." Professor Goodwitch replied, not changing the pressure of the ice-pack (for which Ruby was very thankful for), yet Ruby could tell that Goodwitch didn't agree. Her expression softened, and Ruby dared to hope. "There was a student who falsified his records, made it to his second year before we expelled him." She told the young Huntress-in-training, surprising Ruby immensely.

"Wh-hk-Why?" Ruby asked, the ice-pack briefly tickling her foot, earning a brief glare from Goodwitch before she went back to her mini-story.

"He made great use of his skills, smart and even had a bit of a flair about him." From the way she said it, Ruby wondered if this student had been admired by the staff, or if she was just enjoying the memory, before she turned back into stern-teacher-mode. "He also fought every spar and every mission with the intent to kill, because that was the only way he could match up with his teammates, who could afford to only aim to wound those enemies who were not Grimm. It was only a matter of time before he'd face off against an opponent that others could go all-out on, only for him to die in the attempt, or even kill someone he was tasked to capture only, risking the lives of many. Professor Ozpin tends to be disinclined towards such cases."

"That can't be the onl-teek, stop it." Without thinking, Ruby slapped the arm holding the icepack with her other foot, something that Professor Goodwitch _really_ didn't seem to like. Well, this is it. R.I.P Ruby Rose. She only had a few seconds to save herself, to try and distract Goodwitch. "It can't be the only reason." She reasoned, going back to the original conversation.

"Personality played a factor. He had a hard upbringing and hid his hatred of those who hadn't very well, his views were more towards areas we'd rather not delve into, and he assumed that our actions were based off an attempt to personally ruin him." Ruby could already guess that this was why Jaune remained at Beacon, he had the attitude of a true Huntsman, even if he currently lacked the skill. "We'll be ignoring this issue, seeing as all parties have claimed it to have ended, but we will investigate further if any of what we suspect has happened occurs again."

"I understand." Ruby replied, more than sure that _this_ was a one-off thing.

"Once again, Ms Rose, if it were up to me you'd get a slap on the wrist at least." Professor Goodwitch said, which made Ruby almost recoil from her, as if she was about to get hit with her riding-crop wand this time, only for Goodwitch's next words to be softer. "Along with a congratulatory pat on the back."

"Thank you Professor Goodwitch." She said, moving her arms to try and scratch the back of her head, only for the shoulder to sting a bit. "Ow."

Goodwitch moved from her seat, noticing that the nurse was coming back, and looked at Ruby, whose injuries were already healing enough for her to leave the room by the end of classes. "I knew her for a short time, at best, but she would be proud of you." She said, making Ruby's eyes widen.

_Does she mean that? _Ruby knew what she was feeling, the same emotions that she always felt when her mother came up, happiness and sadness. Only, in this particular moment, she was mostly thankful for the encouragement.

"You have a difficult task ahead." Goodwitch said, appearing almost worried for Ruby.

"Yeah, getting my team to get along again." Ruby admitted, recalling how furious Weiss had been with Jaune. That was going to take a while to make better again.

"The Forever Falls trip may assist with that." Goodwitch said, standing right by the door, before speaking again. "Most of the work will require the whole team, and things may never be the same again for you all." She said, not pulling many punches in saying that.

"I know," Ruby replied, giving a bright smile in response. "Doesn't mean we can't make it better." She pointed out.

Ruby Rose considered it an important first victory of Operation Save Team Jasper, getting Professor Goodwitch to smile.


	7. Black and White

**Okay, gang, now we're going with a timeskip to the last few episodes of Volume One, meaning that we all get to see Sun, Penny, Torchwick and even a bit of the bad guys during these next few chapters, won't that be fantastic. So let's see how Teams JWPR and BRNY handle the emergence of the White Fang in Vale and along with the more personal issues they face now. The next chapter is probably going to be over ten thousands words easily, since that's the one where we get the showdown at the docks.**

**Another thing is that, once I've finished the Volume One bits, I'm going to be taking a bit of a break until Volume Two is done. This is mostly to re-charge my creative batteries and to also come back to this with the most knowledge I have to make this all the more better. Hope you guys don't mind.**

* * *

Weiss, for the first time in three weeks, forgot all about her frustrations, upon seeing the welcome banner for the Vytal Festival.

It was a whole festival dedicated to the cultures of the world, how could she not be giddy at the idea? Being the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company would have normally meant that Weiss would have at least started to know about the kingdoms and what they were like, in order to understand who she'd be doing business with and where the proud symbol of her family name was firmly planted. It had always been something that she couldn't wait for, back when she was nine and stuck in Ice Palace, eager to see the many wonders of the world with her father and sister.

Of course, the White Fang's attacks and militarisation of her home had changed that, but it didn't stop Weiss from trying to find out all she could about the kingdoms.

And now we're here. The very thought made Weiss smile even more, which evidently did not go unnoticed by her team.

"This is the most I've ever seen you smile, Weiss." Ruby said, strolling along behind her, as Weiss chose to ignore the undercurrent of amazement in her partner's voice.

"How could I not? The dances, the parades, the tournament! All the planning and organising that goes into the event is simply phenomenal." She had almost twirled as she spoke, feeling as if she was in a fairy tale, rather than real life, the whimsy of it all carrying her off her feet.

"It is something to be admired." Pyrrha said, right by Weiss' side as she looked to the many decorations that were being put up even now, even when the actual festival was some time away. "That said, I'm not quite so sure why we need to spend our free time in the docks, if you don't mind me asking?" She asked, as Ruby held her nose and started complaining about the stench of fish, as if she didn't know where they were going in the first place.

"I feel that, as a representative of Beacon, we should try and make the first arrivals from Vaccuo feel as welcome as possible." She replied, looking over to the docks and waiting for the ship containing said students. She might also wish to see whether they would be a challenge to face off against in the tournament, just as a precaution, but no one could prove that.

"That makes a lot of sense." A certain other member of the team said, Weiss turning to glare at him, already feeling her day turn darker. "Sorry." He muttered, as he always did, leaving Pyrrha to baby him.

Weiss, lacking Ruby and Pyrrha's seemingly infinite capacity for forgiveness, remained upset with Jaune after learning both what he did to get into Beacon and what the consequences had been for Ruby, her attempts at waving off her horrific injuries still appalled Weiss now. Jaune's deception had led to some poor soul losing the opportunity of a lifetime, placed Ruby in harm's way by making her fight four different people to protect his sordid little secret and placed the whole team at future risk. All for the sake of his ego.

_Yet, everyone but me forgave him. _Weiss had told Team BRNY what happened, rage somewhat clouding her judgement and words, and Pyrrha spoke up in Jaune's defence, the boy having kept quiet from rightful rumination over his actions. Yang, however, despite having the most right to be upset, had merely went to CRDL's recovery room and 'politely' asked them to not try anything like what they had done in the future, grabbing their injured shoulders hard enough for them to agree without hesitation.

On the bright side, bullying at Beacon had plummeted since then.

After Ruby was fully healed, the hilt that was to go with Crocea Mors had turned up. Weiss Schnee had thought that it would serve better placed in an area of Jaune's where the sun did not shine, only Ruby had used those pesky eyes to make Weiss hand it over without using it for violence against the blundering idiot, thus giving the power of Dust to someone who most definitely did not deserve it. The hilt allowed for temporary Dust infusion with the metal, allowing for four different effects to take hold, the time until the reaction ruined the metal varied on the level of Dust used.

Not that he'd understand how to either adjust the levels, or even shift between the different Dust types. _I should have never asked Father for such an extravagance for such a blockhead._ Weiss thought to herself, wondering how she let herself be convinced that he could handle such a thing. She had made her anger plan, but quiet, a simple glare to show that she knew how awful his actions and their consequences were, alongside eating as far from him as she could, putting Ruby and Pyrrha between them.

"Guys," Ruby's voice forced Weiss back to reality. "Looks like some kind of robbery." She said, pointing to a place behind the group, the particular place that had been robbed was obvious.

The four of them moved to get a better look of the place, to get an idea of what happened. The shop had clearly been busted up during the robbery, glass littered the streets outside of the story and the door itself had been broken down, making it easy for the criminals to barge in and take whatever they liked from the place. It was clear that this shop was another part of an unfortunate rising trend in Vale, made only worse by how close it was to Beacon itself.

Dust robberies had been slowly rising over the years, only they were often disposed of, a method for the White Fang and other Faunus terrorist groups to try and hit at the SDC by forcing prices to rise by reducing supply. The amount of Dust shipped prevented such plans from actually working, until they began to rise heavily, larger and larger quantities were being stolen and even smaller shops found their produce being robbed, Ruby having even stopped one of them in what got her into Beacon.

That said, Weiss was confused about one thing, which was the position of the glass itself. If there had been a break-in, and a simple look at the position of the door showed that it was such, then why was the glass on the street and not inside of the shop?

"They broke 'em from the inside." A policeman with a beard said aloud, answering Weiss' question for her, before spitting on the ground. "Buncha scumbags." He said, passing his judgement on the unknown criminals.

That I can agree with. Weiss thought, unable to keep the disgust from her face, somewhat matching the disapproval on the other's faces. It was just spiteful, it added to the cost of the shopkeeper in repairing the damage, pushing his insurance rating up, and they had also robbed the poor owner of his products and earnings. Who knew what might happen to him now? For no reason, other than kicks, these vandals had ruined this-

"They left all the money again!" Weiss, not knowing if the rest of Team JWPR did the same, went from disapproval to shock. Why would they leave the money? The bearded policeman seemed to agree. "It just don't make a lick of sense. Probably just the White Fang." The very name of that group made Weiss' eyes narrow.

"Probably something they don't pay us enough to do anymore." The other policeman said, lacking his partner's beard or apparent sense of duty, the two quickly wondering off from the crime scene in favour of other activities.

"The White Fang," Weiss almost spat out those words, if she was not bound by her own dignity. "What an awful bunch of lunatics." She declared, knowing from first-hand experience that only those Faunus would commit such petty crimes, in the name of harming the closest human to them.

"I didn't know they were into robbing stores." Jaune said, only his tone of confusion saving him from a sharp lecture. "I thought they were more 'death to humanity!' and blowing stuff up, or have they downgraded?"

"They're a gang of psychopaths, they probably did it because they felt like ruining someone's life." Weiss replied, brushing off his words, even if they did have some logic to them.

"What about that Torchwick guy? The police hadn't caught him, and this does match his M.O." Ruby began to strike her chin, as if it was some sort of beard and she was a detective of some sort. "This is definitely an M.O of Torchwick's." Ruby spoke with clear authority, Jaune nodding alongside her.

You don't even know what it means, do you? Weiss might have said that before, then pointing out what a modus operandi meant. That was before she saw her well-meaning partner battered and bloodied across their dorm room, with injuries that even Aura couldn't entirely heal without medical supervision, all from a desire to protect her team from threats. She had been allowed out in a day, but she hadn't properly healed everything up until a week had past, even with Aura helping out.

Even then, Weiss found herself worrying about her friend, whether Ruby had some sort of injury that would pop up at the worst moment, or if they would impact on her ability as a Huntress permanently. It was ridiculous, yet Weiss had hated the feeling of being in an infirmary again, just sitting there and waiting to hear how badly someone she cared about was, surrounded by fears of the worst and what could be.

It reminded her of Winter.

_Weiss was ten again, sitting in a hospital chair. The doctors had said that they need space to see what had gone wrong with the treatment and talks about emergency surgery could even be heard from across the thick walls, endlessly arguing over which treatment would be best to prevent the situation from getting worse. She was crying, mostly because she was confused, Winter was supposed to have been getting better enough for her to come home and the two could even have bunk-beds, or at least that's what Daddy said could happen._

_Now Daddy was holding his head in his hands and refusing to move them, Weiss knowing that he didn't like to show that he was crying, especially not around her, and Uncle Horace was trying to get Daddy to be more hopeful and that he was upsetting Weiss. Eventually, Daddy would show his face, say that everything was going to be fine and that he needed to make a call to someone. Uncle Horace, even when he had Melody at home, stayed the whole night for the two of them, until the doctors said that her condition stabilised but she needed to stay in the hospital for a bit longer._

_Weiss was sad, but she could still sleep over at Uncle Horace's, where there was a bunk bed, for reasons Daddy said not to ask about, and Melody liked it when Weiss did her hair the way she wanted it to look. Winter would get better, at least that's what all the doctors agreed on, that the disease wouldn't last forever, and then she and Weiss could enjoy Ice Palace together, as sisters, with friends like Melody as well._

_Only, two years later, with Winter still in the hospital, Uncle Horace's corpse was left outside the hospital to show that they knew where to hit the Schnee family. Father cut off contact with most family friends after the White Fang made others targets for their work in the company, and Winter was moved to a half-fortress, half-hospital near General Ironwood's own base of operations. Weiss never saw Melody again, and she never got the bunk beds she wanted, even though she was promised them once Winter could leave the hospital at age thirteen._

_She was too old for them, by then, at age fifteen._

The bitter memory only inflamed Weiss' hatred of the White Fang. "Be that as it may, the White Fang are scum, plain and simple." She said, perhaps with more acid than the rest of the group expected from her. "The innocent don't need masks."

Pyrrha seemed ready to say something, maybe a question about whether a White Fang attack had happened again, judging from how concerned she seemed to be for Weiss, while Ruby and Jaune seemed a bit taken aback by the strength of her convictions. Such a conversations might have been helpful, only for a voice to cry out in anger against something, only for Weiss to realise that they were calling for someone to 'stop that Faunus'.

Naturally, upon hearing the cry for help, Team Jasper ran forth, going back to where the docks were to find a certain someone. This person wasn't from Vale or Atlas, with too much of a natural tan for that to be the case, with short blonde hair and a monkey tail, the man using it to hang from a lamppost, only to then devour a banana to probably mock his pursuers. Weiss struggled to hear exactly what they were talking about. _What was it they said? Stowaway?_

Smuggling yourself onto a ship to avoid paying charges was a minor crime, true, but Weiss was feeling like being a vigilante today and decided to do something about this small-time criminal, before his crimes escalated into White Fang membership. After all, as a Huntress in training, she needed the practise in delivering justice against the scoundrels who went around breaking the law. _Who knows? It might even impress the arrivals._ She informed herself, deciding to not let the rapidly fleeing Faunus get way with his flaunting of the law.

"After him!" She cried out, running forward, the two police officers from before just behind her and her team following right beside her, which seemed to give her the additional energy needed to slowly catch up with the monkey Faunus. Only Jaune seemed to be matching her pace, an equal amount of determination in his eyes, focused on bringing down justice, or rather trying to gain Weiss' forgiveness with a single gesture. _If he thinks he can try and get my forgiveness that easily..._

It was when the Faunus turned a corner, the team following him, that Weiss found herself smashing into a person that was far too close to her to actually make out any details, all she could focus on was the fact she she and the person were falling to the ground. She looked up to see that the police and Jaune were still chasing the Faunus, but he remained too fast for them and leapt onto the roof of a building, out of their reach.

Weiss smacked her fist onto the ground. "No! He-"

"Weiss, the glyphs!" Jaune called out, still running where the police were beginning to walk away, side by side with the Faunus, who seemed to see it all as a game for him to mock them with.

What that riff-raff didn't know, was that he had just angered a Schnee with his little display. Not only that, but this particular Schnee had a Semblance that allowed her to summon multiple glyphs with different abilities, such as manipulating the time of whatever was in the arena of a glyph, creating a platform in mid-air and manipulating momentum of whatever was inside the glyph's area. For example, a blue glyph would heavily increase the momentum of even the smallest jump and allow them to leap across a battlefield, or just stop one criminal. Pulling out Myrtenaster, she directed it at Jaune's shoes and the boy leapt as she activated it.

Jaune was sent high into the sky, the distant lettering of his shoes being the last somewhat-clear sight Weiss had of him as his screams filled the air, leaving everyone from the Faunus to the police to look up at what happened, as Weiss began to wonder if that was such a good idea after all. "I think we could have just let it go, Weiss." Pyrrha said, rather gently for someone whose partner was sent flying into the sky.

Just as with everything that went up, Jaune came down again, at a rapidly increasing pace. Weiss summoned a collection of black glyphs, which managed to at least slow his fall, although he moved too fast for their full effect of stopping it completely to take hold, the Faunus seemed to move towards a higher roof and prepared to run off again upon seeing that the fall had become a fair bit safer. That was, until Jaune's fall was stopped by a sudden area for him to grab onto appeared.

A violent scream, and another one of terror, flooded the street they were on, as Jaune Arc kept a firm grip on the Faunus' tail and the owner of said tail grabbed the top of the building he was on, having somewhat slipped on it after Jaune made his grab.

"FUCK!" The Faunus howled, no longer taking humour in this little chase. "Let go!"

"No! I'll die!" Jaune screamed back, tightening his grip, despite also having to avoid multiple attempts at kicking him off.

"You'll die and I'll lose my tail, if you don't! Do you know how painful this is?" The Faunus shouted back, the pressure on his tail awakening some sort of hidden rage.

"Don't let go, Jaune, the police are getting a ladder." Weiss instructed, seeing the two policemen say the exact same thing to one another, hoping that her teammate could try and do this right and bring that person to justice.

"Okay!" Jaune replied, casing the Faunus to roar in anger, Pyrrha running over to them to try and help her partner.

"Um, Weiss." Ruby said, Weiss turning to see her partner point down to the ground where Weiss was still on her hands and knees, making the heiress turn back to see what Ruby was pointing at.

The subject in question was a girl with orange hair and mostly beige dress, other than the green circles with lines coming out that were in an ordered row on said dress, with a black neck accessory with green lines running down them. What slightly unsettled Weiss, however, was the wide smile she had upon the two of them locking eyes and Weiss acknowledging that she was on her hands and knees crawling over this girl. Upon leaping off, and standing beside Ruby, the girl instead remained lying on the ground and looked at the two of them

"Salutations."

* * *

Pyrrha considered herself to be a friendly and open person, if it wasn't too arrogant to say. Ever since the incident with Team CRDL, Pyrrha had been open to Jaune about how she already accepted his apology for how he acted towards her on the roof, and that he'd be grateful for that extra-training she offered. She even helped out in trying to reconcile him with Weiss, both reasons being to keep the team together and to also stop Jaune from moping with every glare that Weiss had sent his way.

Even if it meant that she couldn't approach him about her own feelings.

After Ruby was sent to the infirmary, all those weeks ago, Pyrrha had been right beside Weiss in waiting to see how long it would be until she'd back completely back to normal again. When Weiss explained what happened, it had been Pyrrha who argued for a despondent Jaune's case and pointed out that Ruby had forgave him already, which seemed enough for Yang to focus her anger at Team CRDL instead, only Weiss remained stubborn in her refusal to fully forgive him.

_Baby steps, Pyrrha. _She must not have enjoyed waiting outside a hospital room for someone she cared for again. She told herself, happy that Weiss had started to talk to him again, at both Pyrrha and Ruby's insistence, and she began to refer to him in more than just negative terms. Yes, Pyrrha prided herself on being a considerate person.

So it was very much okay for her to be near the point of swearing, in trying to get Jaune down, whilst Ruby and Weiss dealt with the girl who the latter ran into. A task which might have been helped, were it not for the Faunus and Jaune both screaming at each other, both seemingly terrified of the drop and potential threat to their lives.

"Get the hell off!" The Faunus demanded, wildly kicking down at Jaune, trying to force him off his tail.

"No, I need to win back the respect of the girl I love." Jaune shouted back, even as his grip on the tail slowly budged down, causing even more pain for the Faunus. Pyrrha had winced at Jaune's words, but tried to focus all of her efforts on being able to catch Jaune at the right time, so that he didn't break something.

"Jaune, keep a hold on that monkey-tailed degenerate at all costs." Weiss demanded, while Ruby had gotten that girl they bumped into to finally stand up and talk to her, as the Schnee moved beside Pyrrha to try and catch Jaune as well, which was a relief to her.

"If a Faunus tail is what she needs to be interested in a guy," The Faunus said, his voice calm, before going back to a shout again. "THEN GET A NEW GODDAMN CRUSH WHO ISN'T CRAZY!"

As if to add to his words, the Faunus finally managed to land a kick to Jaune's face, making him let go of his grip. "Someone catch me!" Jaune cried out, as he quickly fell to the ground. Pyrrha rushed to get to him, only Weiss did the same and the both of them crashed into each other, the distraction only lasted a few seconds at most, only that was enough for Jaune to hit the ground hard, groaning from the floor. The Faunus had fled by now, the quiet echo of his mutterings of pain the only indication that he was anywhere near them.

"He has probably broken a leg, judging from that sub-standard attempt at reducing the impact of his fall." An almost-robotic like voice said, Pyrrha turning to see that it was the mystery girl that they had met.

"I'm okay." Jaune said, trying to stand up, only to almost trip on his own feet. Pyrrha managed to help him stabilise himself, and was amazed and thankful to find that he was actually right, he hadn't broken any of his legs and didn't seem too harmed by what happened. "Who's this?" Jaune asked, pointing at the girl, forgetting his manners somewhat.

"My name is Penny." The girl chirped, only it almost seemed like she was reading from a script. "I forgot to ask all of yours, violating an accepted guideline for first meetings." She said, Pyrrha guessing that she lived a somewhat sheltered life, judging from her wearing clothes that were more fashionable decades ago.

"Okay then," Ruby said, clapping her hands and pointing to each member of Team JWPR. "My name is Ruby, this is Weiss, as you know, and this is Pyrrha and Jaune."

"Salutations." Penny said, waving at the four of them. "My name is Penny."

"You said that already." Pyrrha said, unsure if this Penny girl hadn't hit her head when falling, or if she had memory problems.

Silence reigned over the group for a few seconds. "So I did."

"I'm sure you tried your best, Jaune, but that Faunus riffraff got away. We best be off again." Weiss said, sighing to herself, while Pyrrha was happy to see that more progress in repairing the two's relationship was being made. "Sorry for running into you." She said, waving goodbye to Penny, and walking somewhat quicker than before.

"Take care, friend." Ruby said, as the group turned and walked forth, leaving Penny to her day. As they left the street, Pyrrha did admit to finding the sight of the two policemen from before, holding a ladder up high as it if were a battering ram, rather droll.

"She seemed a bit weird." Jaune admitted, Weiss nodding at those words, and even Pyrrha found something slightly odd about the girl.

Pyrrha, almost froze up when she heard a gasp from behind and a whooshing noise from behind, worry crawling up her spine, wondering if Ruby or Weiss accidentally said something that Penny now thought was an insult or if she just heard Jaune's words and had been saddened by them._ You're being paranoid, Pyrrha, I'm sure she was just a bit shocked about the whole crashing into another person thing._

"What did you call me?" Penny asked, appearing in front of the four all of a sudden, as if from nowhere.

_How did-I don't-Wha- _Pyrrha's thoughts were a jumble, trying to understand how she couldn't sense Penny's movements, with Weiss trapped in a similar state of confusion, the two almost looking like twins with their similar hairstyles. Pyrrha had faced quick opponents in the past, one was even just a blur for most of the match, but even she hadn't been as fast as Penny. _She must be a competitor in the combat tournament._That much was now obvious.

"I'm so sorry!" Jaune cried out, entering a state of sheer panic, realising that Penny must have heard him. "Why do I open my big mouth? It just brings suffering to the people I care about!"

"Not you," Penny replied, stalking forward until she was facing Ruby, their faces almost close enough to kiss. "_You_."

It was Ruby's turn to panic, Weiss looking to have stopped herself from trying to get in between the two of them, and even Pyrrha was worried that Penny was about to try and do something horrible to her, feeling the urge to try and protect her team leader rising. _Okay, Pyrrha, slowly move your hand towards Milo. You might not have to use it, but it's always good to have it ready._

"You called me _friend_. Am I really your _friend_?" She asked, sounding more confused and hopeful, rather than hurt and offended, which managed to calm Pyrrha somewhat.

Weiss and Jaune responded in a flash, both of them making hand gestures to show that they really wanted Ruby to either say no or to find some way to get out of saying yes, obviously wishing to avoid further contact with Penny. Pyrrha didn't have the heart to do so, even if Penny made her feel a bit uneasy, and she didn't see Ruby as the type to have or want the verbal flexibility to say no without upsetting Penny, which may have been why she wasn't surprised by Ruby's reply.

"Yeah sure, why not?" Ruby replied, causing Weiss and Jaune to both fall to ground, moaning of how Ruby was too nice for her own good, it was almost as if the two had some sort of mental connection to one another, in contrast to Pyrrha who was left to the side.

_It wasn't just the hair. _Pyrrha had known that, despite Jaune and Weiss both speaking in approval of it, the change in hair wasn't enough for Jaune to feel the same for Pyrrha as he did for Weiss or for the two to break out of the mentor/student relationship that Pyrrha found herself trapped in. Maybe Pyrrha could try and see which mannerisms of Weiss that Jaune seemed to like, ones that Pyrrha could see herself doing, to try and remind Jaune that she was more than a mentor and teammate.

Penny herself, after hearing that Ruby did think of her as a friend, might as well have been jumping on the spot. She started to list off all the things they could do together, such as doing nails, trying on dresses, talking about cute boys (Pyrrha prayed it wasn't Jaune, that was the last thing she and the team needed) while Ruby stood there uncomfortably. At one point, she began whispering to Weiss about something, only Pyrrha was unable to hear what exactly they were saying, leaving her to try and use small talk to gain Penny's attention.

"So, what are you doing in Vale?" She asked, noting that Penny must have been from one of the Academies in Atlas, judging from that particular style of old clothing.

"I'm here to fight in the combat tournament." Penny replied, looking very proud of herself, not out of arrogance, but genuine eagerness, making Pyrrha feel bad for considering her odd. She must have just been taken aback by going to a whole other kingdom and got a bit confused.

"You? You don't seem like the type." Weiss said, looking up and down as if she was analysing everything about Penny. "That dress isn't at all practical, I can recommend a great place for combat skirts." She said, her direct tone not matching the friendliness of her actions.

"Yeah, all the cool girls use those." Ruby said, crossing her arms as if she was in a gang, before both she and Weiss shared a high-five with one another. Pyrrha wouldn't deny that she felt somewhat jealous of how close Ruby and Weiss had become since Initiation, while she and Jaune had a much longer slog in getting out of the rut their relatio-friendship, friendship that was a more proper word to use, was in.

Both their closeness and Jaune's abilities had improved immensely, since that incident with Cardin. With Weiss being so cold, it made Pyrrha feel bad that she took advantage of that to use Jaune's willingness to avoid the heiress to spend more time with him, both of them using that time to help him train and to also bond with one another. Jaune's ability was now enough to pass an official Beacon examination, if Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch judged it necessary to see if he should stay in Beacon, and he'd show more than enough talent to be a Beacon student once the second semester arrived.

It made Pyrrha feel good that she had been able to do that for a friend.

"I'm combat ready." Penny said, with a swing of her arm, trying to prove her point, as she looked back to Weiss. "You seemed upset with that Faunus boy getting away, I can help track his location using c-detective skills." She offered, now looking up into the sky, likely being embarrassed from getting her words mixed-up.

Weiss, however, took no notice of the verbal mistake and more on the offer itself. "You can do that? Great, he was probably working with the people who robbed that store in the first place."

"I thought we agreed that it couldn't have been the White Fang? Dust robberies aren't their thing." Ruby sounded more confused than argumentative, which might have been why Weiss didn't argue the point, only for Penny to take up the argument.

"They did rob a train containing large quantities of Dust, and brutally massacred a trainload of Atlesian Knights alongside a potential plan to wipe out the crew members." She said, a computer listing off a file of facts, before she then looked worried. "I'm sorry, I forgot that friends are not supposed to disagree with one another."

"How did you know all of that?" Weiss asked, more amazed than anything, while Ruby was assuring Penny that friends could disagree with each other as long as it didn't get too much.

"The news." She said, no one in Team JWPR, not even Pyrrha, believing her for a second. "My family also have contracts with the SDC." She admitted, looking nervous, Pyrrha could guess that that information wasn't supposed to have been told to them.

"Wait, it kind of makes sense." Jaune pointed out, tapping his right index finger onto the palm of his left hand, sounding authoritative for the first time since they fought that Deathstalker. "If they have a trainload of Dust, then they're going to want a lot of it. Why not rob stores as well?" He asked, although the answer was obvious.

_They want it for something. _Pyrrha figured out, as Weiss stood there flabbergasted, with what exactly was something Pyrrha didn't know. "We thought they just wanted to spite us, throwing it into the ocean or setting it a-" The word she was about to say was enough for her eyes to widen and for her to violently turn to her partner, tightly grabbing her shoulders. "Ruby, do you remember when you sneezed and created a crater?"

"Yeah?" Ruby replied, not looking to be enjoying what was likely to come after.

"Imagine that with mountains of the stuff, planted anywhere on Remnant, used by a group that butchers people and defaces their corpses." Weiss' expression was too serious and solemn for it to have been her attempt at a joke.

Pyrrha did not want to think of the potential of such a scheme, the lives that could be lost during and in the aftermath of the explosion, the mere thought of it happening anywhere across Remnant was almost enough to make bile rush up her throat. She couldn't let the risk of such a thing be ignored, no matter how remote it was.

"We should tell someone about this, Ozpin, the police, the SDC, anyone." Pyrrha could feel the mood of the group turn serious, no one was underestimating how bad things could get if the White Fang managed to pull something like this off.

"Who'd believe us? My father might, and it's a long-shot, but he can't have people everywhere." Weiss admitted, before gasping and speaking again. "There's a whole shipment of Dust coming in, by the end of the weekend. If those filthy Faunus rapscallions gets their hands on it-"

"They're not." Ruby sounded serious, her resolution solid, enough to stop Weiss from complaining about being interrupted. "It might just be us getting worried, but we can't risk letting these guys get that much Dust, and we're going to need proof of what they're doing. Jaune, we need to come up with a plan, and stock up on others if things go downhill, not to mention supplies." She instructed, Jaune nodding in confirmation.

"We're going to need Dust, and a map of the place. If we know where we're fighting, we can take them down fast." Jaune added, turning to the unofficial fifth member of their little party. "Penny, do you have a specific fighting style with your weapon?" He asked, Pyrrha in awe of how quickly he took hold of the situation, even Weiss seemed impressed by it.

"I am sufficiently skilled at both close and long-ranged styles of combat." She replied, in the same merry tone as before. "Anything to help my friends."

Jaune turned to her now, only he seemed a bit more nervous than before. "Pyrrha, I know that you said you like to keep it a secret, but we might need y-"

"My Semblance is Polarity, but only what I've touched previously." Pyrrha knew it was rude to cut people off, but she knew she'd have to explain it eventually, as she did with Jaune when they trained together, and now was the perfect time to do so.

"When the shipment arrives, we need to be ready for anything. Whoever that Faunus is, he may not be a member of the White Fang, but we should be ready to take him down the second we see him at the docks, if he's there." Weiss advised, Pyrrha thought it wouldn't be likely, yet she could see the benefit of planning for such an event. It was better to be safe rather than sorry, as people said.

"Oh my gosh, this is so cool, we're fighting the forces of evil and it's only our first semester." Ruby said, almost squealing over the idea out of sheer joy, in complete contrast to her serious self from before. "Should we tell Team BRNY?"

"Let's decide tomorrow, we should have plans for ourselves and plans for if they don't believe us." Weiss said, although it didn't sound like she thought that they would need their help. "Not to mention if the White Fang, or this Torchwick person, doesn't show."

"Ugh, I forgot about him. Why do there have to be so many bad guys? Do they have some sort of secret club meeting?" Ruby said, puffing out her cheeks and pouting, creating a very adorable image.

Everyone had burst into laughter at that sight, even Weiss, while Penny seemed to be looking at the sky, only to then join the laughter a second later with her own loud yet nervous one. Pyrrha felt much less weight on her shoulders than she thought she might have, considering the consequences of failure, and she didn't need much thought to realise that it was because she was sharing it with her friends, rather than facing the daunting task alone. Their presence almost made the task seem simple, rather than one with dauntingly high stakes.

Pyrrha had also noticed how Weiss and Jaune finally seemed to be getting along again, or rather Weiss had temporarily abandoned her grudge, once an actual enemy appeared again. She could admit to a hint of jealously, rather liking how Jaune had come to see her as more of a comrade and fearing the end as it would soon be safe to court Weiss again, only for it to be buried under the hope that Team JWPR could rebuild itself again.

Besides, the happiness of the team meant more than a little crush. Just as long as she could have real friends, ones who saw her as she wanted to be seen, as Pyrrha Nikos, a proud student of Beacon and a member of Team JWPR.

Penny no longer seemed that discomforting, in Pyrrha's eyes, now that she was surrounded by friends.

* * *

"He grabbed your tail?" Nora asked, raising an eyebrow and lending a sympathetic look from across the table. "That's gotta hurt."

"Yeah, it kind of did." Sun replied, rubbing the tail where signs of a firm grip were still present. "He seemed pretty scared too, the only thing making him keep hold was the demands of that white-haired girl. Is she the leader of their team?" He asked, looking to the rest of Blake's team for confirmation.

"No, however much she acts like it." Blake said, more than slightly upset with what happened to Sun.

Blake's team had been going out to buy some stuff, mostly just to spend some time outside of school, while Team JWPR went to the docks to satisfy Weiss' little espionage fantasy. Things were pretty normal until they saw a monkey Faunus rushing down the street, bumping right into Nora as he looked back, immediately turning towards the defensive against them, especially when it came to his tail which had seemed worse for wear. Upon seeing Blake, and probably realising that she was a fellow Faunus, he went back to his mellow personality.

It seemed that he noticed the purpose of the bow, which led to him asking very vague questions to Blake about her secret, until Blake informed him that her team already knew and that her secret was safe with them. Sun, after telling them his name, had been happy to meet with everyone and join them in going to a cafe where Blake had enjoyed some coffee, back before she had even left the White Fang.

From there, he told them of why he was in Vale, some facts about his team and his experience of the city since he had gotten off the boat itself, including the police throwing a rock at him, Weiss trying to form a mob to catch him and how Jaune almost ripped out his tail in a quest to appease the little brat. Even hearing about the words she used from a second-hand perspective, Blake had to restrain herself when it came to venting her frustrations with Weiss' words, so she kept silent while her team did the talking.

"Blake is very passionate about Faunus Rights. She tends to keep it quiet at school, but none of us really agree with the particular holding method you were subjected to." Ren informed him, the bag next to his chair filled with the spoils of war, such as Samurai Shampoo and other bodycare products. "How did you know what they were talking about though, if you fled?" He asked, Blake having to restrain herself from saying something again, after hearing about Weiss getting her team involved with her conspiracy theory.

"I did plan on taking revenge by stealing some more bananas and throwing it at them, so I scouted out where they were going to be." Yang frowned at this, being extra-protective of Ruby since that incident with Team CRDL, and Blake didn't exactly appreciate his constant use of petty crime. "Until I thought the orange-haired girl saw me and I ran into you guys, and now I know that they're all cool." He said quickly, motioning his hands in a surrender pose.

"Not Weiss. I can't believe she would just assume you were working with the White Fang, just because you're a Faunus. She spoke just like Cardin about them, she even used to try and eat as far from Velvet as she could, until that incident with Ruby and Cardin." Blake snapped, letting all of her feelings flow forth with a force she thought she had forgotten.

"She probably got taught these things, we can't expect her to be as understanding as we are." Ren pointed out, his voice just as calm as ever.

"Yeah, and I got called way worse names from others and let it slide over." Sun added, not even appearing bothered about how her commands almost led to him losing one of his limbs. "Heck, I was supposed to buy tickets for my team when they wouldn't let me on, so I sneaked in myself." He pointed out, even now showing little sign of anything but relaxation.

"You can't just let these things slide over! She called our kind filthy rapscallions." Blake argued, trying to figure out why Sun was so lax about the whole idea of discrimination against the Faunus, as if he took 'live and let live' to some sort of extreme, in this case.

"She called the White Fang that, and they are kind of gigantic dicks, considering they're planning a terrorist attack." Sun added, which made Yang and Nora find the ground and ceiling respectively fascinating, leaving Blake to point out how insane the idea was.

"They're not planning an attack. That's just Weiss trying to blame it on them to match her prejudice, and we can't help them with it." Blake added particular emphasis on those last words, not wanting her team to be party to Weiss' desire for a misguided group of Faunus to be this cartoonishly evil, to kill hundreds who weren't even related to the SDC.

"What if it's Torchwick?" Yang asked, looking nervous about Blake's order on working with Team Jasper on this matter.

Blake, and the rest of the table, were silent. It was true, Torchwick was one of the more dangerous criminals in Vale, and people tended to rarely last long when confronting him and Team JWPR could even be in danger if it was him. On the other hand, Torchwick was the only true danger and even he wouldn't be able to fight off four opponents at once, including a well-known warrior such as Pyrrha, and most of his henchmen were rent-a-thugs who fled at the first sign of actual danger.

Ruby was able to take on a gang of them before even going to Beacon, and she'd also have the assistance of Pyrrha, Weiss and that girl they met, and even Jaune had enough ability to fend them off, with the right team plan. Torchwick would need a small army of them to take down those five, and there was no way that he could assemble such a force without attracting a lot of attention from someone in power.

"They'll be fine, it'll either be Torchwick or nothing, and all it'll do is make them tired for classes next week." Blake said, taking a sip of her coffee and not liking how her team had yet to rally to her point.

"So we're not helping our friends?" Nora asked, Yang and Ren's silence speaking for their feelings, that they did not feel comfortable looking their friends in the eye and saying no for reasons they couldn't say. Even if it came from Weiss desiring some sort of revenge, the others would be earnest in their desire to help people, and it was hard for any member of Blake's team to appear like they didn't trust in that ideal.

"We're not helping them go on some wild goose chase, while listening to Weiss spout her father's dogma." Blake pointed out, even if it didn't seem to convince any of them, Yang's downward look doing more to make Blake feel uncomfortable than anything.

"We could just watch from afar, jump in if things go bad or if it is actually the White Fang?" Ren suggested, Nora brightening up and nodding along, leaving Yang to give Blake a hopeful smile, as if this was some sort of call to arms for a noble quest, rather than a night trip to the docks to look for shadows.

_Why are they all so quick to think it's the White Fang? _A darker side of her asked, that part of her that sounded a lot like Adam. The White Fang had gone violent, and Blake had even left because of the growing brutality of their methods, but they weren't the types to practise mass killing of humans, even with the rhetoric they now used. All of their previous attacks, even the assassinations, had been due to direct links with Faunus discrimination, membership of the SDC Board of Directors, shops that refused to serve Faunus and those who vandalised Faunus homes.

They didn't just kill people for the crime of being human.

_"What about the crew members?"_

_No, that was just him taking orders too far. _Blake told herself, repressing the memory of her friend's death, replaced by a man whose only goal was to kill everyone who he thought had wronged him and Faunuskind.

Not even Blake was convinced by that internal lie, she looked at her team and realised that she couldn't win this argument. "Fine. We'll observe, but we can't let ourselves get convinced by Weiss or anyone else that it's the White Fang. They're misguided, not evil." She conceded, not sure how to feel about herself.

At the realisation that they weren't leaving their friends to potentially fight alone, Yang regained her confidence and was smiling widely, looking ecstatic about the whole thing, while Ren and Nora seemed happy knowing that, at worst, they could always come in and save the day. Sun, in what seemed to be a regular thing for him, just shrugged and went along with it all. From their chatter, it seemed like they were focusing more on Torchwick than the White Fang.

Blake knew then that her team wasn't going to bend, whether to Weiss' demands or Ruby's excited suggestion that fighting against the White Fang was some kind of noble crusade, neither would they blindly believe that it was the White Fang doing this sort of thing. Even if they did, they couldn't be the type to use Dust for that purpose, to blow up half of Vale or whatever sort of destruction that sort of reaction could bring, Blake knew it wasn't what the White Fang would do.

_Or is it something we hope the White Fang wouldn't do?_


	8. Many Shades of Grey

**Okay guys, this is the super-long update that's going to cover the last episode of RWBY Volume 1, hold onto your hats because this is the one with actual fight-scenes and hitting each other instead of it being referenced in the story. We've got Team JWPR and Penny playing the vigilantes, Team BRNY and Sun keeping watch and Roman and the White Fang trying to gather lots and lots of Dust for reasons we've yet to learn. So yeah, that's happening.**

**EDIT: By the way, there is going to be a delay in the next chapter, mostly so I know a bit more about Volume Two and adapt the story around it, to also prevent myself from basically catching up with canon and real-life stuff, meaning that the Volume 2 batch of updates will be coming out at around October, so just wanted to give you guys the heads-up. Cheers.**

**As always, enjoy it and remember to give feedback, which has kind of been falling for a while.**

* * *

It was halfway through their little observation task that Yang was beginning to worry about Blake, and that her defence of the innocence of the White Fang was looking a bit too defensive. She didn't think that Blake was still a member, or supported their methods. Hell, no. She knew Blake long enough to tell that she honestly believed that the White Fang didn't have a plan like the one that JWPR got into their heads, and that she was telling the truth when she said that she was done with them.

Only, it felt as if she had some attachment to what they used to be, insisting on calling them misguided when they had done some pretty scummy things by now. Yang wouldn't say that to Blake's face, not wanting to antagonise her friend for no good reason, but sometimes she wondered when exactly Blake left the White Fang and whether she found herself unable to separate her own sense of morality from the Fang's.

Still, the group were all here, laying down the roof of a building in the docks, the horrifying smell of living and dying fish violating some of their noses. Even Sun, who turned out to be a pretty cool guy, seemed a bit uncomfortable with the smell, despite turning down the clothes pegs that Nora offered to him that Yang and Ren had already taken her up on, leaving both him and Blake as the only ones without. Blake didn't seem to mind, not with that determined look in her eyes.

Or it was just her love of tuna acting up. _Go with the first one, Yang. It's way cooler._

"How did you guys say no to them?" Nora asked, the peg on her nose making it difficult to do anything but laugh.

That might have been why Yang took her own off, for this conversation. "I'm gonna apologise to Ruby, after all of this is done."

_Ruby, probably going to Yang because they were sisters, had been insistent that she should try and go with them, her eyes pouring with glee at the idea of their teams fighting together against an evil threat. Yang said no, which had shocked Ruby down to her core, if her quick demand to know why not was anything to go by. Unable to say 'Blake's kind of had experience working with the White Fang and doesn't think this is their kind of thing', Yang had to just avoid the question and claim that her whole team was busy, resisting the urge to explain everything._

_"Come on, Yang. We're fighting bad guys four years before we even graduate from Beacon." Ruby begged, grabbing onto Yang's arm after she had tried to turn away and continue moving down the dorm hallway, a futile attempt at moving away from her little sister's requests. "It's like that night club you went to." She pointed out, Yang recalling that memory with Junior and the boys, only to rapidly try and shut Ruby down._

_"Ruby," She said, wincing at how sharp her voice had become. Yang was frustrated with having to balance out following Blake's plan and trying to keep her sister from getting suspicious. "I've just got too much stuff to do, and the team needs me for something."_

_"But, we're going to kick evildoer butt, and then I'll go wa-tcha and hi-ya," Ruby said, adding her own special effects, moving her arms and making noises as if she was in those old kung-fu movies. "Then Weiss will go 'man, Ruby's so cool, I'm going to drop that stupid cookie limit rule'. Those White Fang guys will be crying home, or those Torchwick goons, and we'll be heroes." Yang kept herself from thinking about whether Ruby would accidentally badly wound some poor girl like Blake, against the plan but unable to leave, before Weiss patted her on the back and finished the job._

_"Ruby, there might not be anyone there." She replied, more hoping than believing her own words._

_"No, they will be. Weiss and I did some research at the CCT, there have been dust robberies all over Vale, and all have been owned by the SDC, just like the freighter that coming around tomorrow." Ruby said, bringing out some papers from her pocket, the handwriting her own. "It has to be the White Fang and they must want to blow something big up, with that much powdered and crystallised Dust. Weiss thinks it's her home in Atlas or the SDC Headquarters that's the target."_

_"I'm busy, Ruby. Ask someone else." Yang said, pushing the paper away, not wanting to believe that a group could actually do such a thing. That Blake could be so wrong about the place she once belonged to that hundreds of lives would be at risk, and that Yang was going to openly say that she wouldn't help because she thought Ruby was overreacting, when she was just trying to watch over her._

_"Yang, we could actually be fighting monsters. They're not the Grimm, but they want to kill hundreds of people, if we're right and that makes the White Fang the worst kind of monster." Ruby said, a rare firmness in her, although all it did was send the wrong sort of images in Yang's head._

_She imagined Blake, or someone who looked like her, smiling gleefully as she pushed a button and set a city alight. _

_She imagined Ruby getting stabbed in the back, Yang too far away to get there in time, after an ambush was laid by either Torchwick or the White Fang._

_She imagined Weiss commanding her team to torture the survivors, claiming that they were just as bad as the Grimm._

_She could even see Blake leaping in to try and stop JWPR from beating down the White Fang after they surrendered, only for her secret to come out._

_Yang could see so much damn blood and violence that she felt herself get angry. At Blake for making them go through this whole damn song and dance, just because she didn't want to 'validate' Weiss' ideas about the White Fang, Weiss for apparently inciting her team into doing this, Ruby for not just accepting no as her answer and at herself most of all for not telling Ruby her own team's plan and just hoping for the best. Mixed in was anger at a lot of other things as well, Dad letting himself shut down after Mum died, Mum dying on that mission, Yang's biological mother for walking out on her for some reason, Uncle Qrow for not telling her anything about her and Yang just felt like letting loose._

_It was poor timing that Yang only had one person around to vent those feelings at, and that said anger prevented her from recognising who it was._

_"Yeah, and you could be wrong and then I'd have wasted my time playing pretend with you as always, just like when we were kids and you didn't have friends. Well, you finally got some now, so you think you can try to let me live my own life now?" She shouted, regret flooding her the second she stopped talking, realising that her eyes flickered red for a second and that Ruby looked crushed at hearing those words. "Ruby, I did-"_

_"I thought they were fun." Ruby said to herself, as quiet as a mouse, even looking the part as well, before looking up at Yang and giving the saddest smile she had ever seen. "I get it. We're on different teams, have different lessons, and you like not having to take care of me."_

_Yang could see her little sister turn around and head back to her dorm, without any of her energy. "Ruby-"_

_"It's fine, I know what you meant." She said, turning back to smile at her again, only it was a miserable one more than anything, and Yang had been the cause of it. "I'll tell Weiss that you can't do it." She said in an assuring tone, before leaving Yang standing in the hallway, like the idiot she was._

_Yang felt a lot of things, the need to hit something taking charge of all of them. There were a lot of faces she could imagine hitting to calm herself down, after that, and some of them were even her friends for getting her into this whole mess, only the person she wanted to hit most of all wasn't even an enemy, friend or family to Yang._

_She just wanted to hit herself for all this._

Back in the present, Yang remembered some of Ruby's points the day before, where they had been buried by anger and sadness, and felt the need to try and point these things out to Blake. Maybe hearing these points would convince her to adopt a more direct assistance strategy, compared to just lying around and waiting for some kind of explosion to signify that they would come in and help out after shit already hit the fan.

"Blake, Ruby mentioned that the White Fang have been doing these kinds of things across Vale." She said, keeping her voice soft so that Blake wouldn't think she was accusing her of anything. "You're not a member, you don't have to defend them." She pointed out, fearing that Blake was letting her memory of what the group used to be get in the way of seeing what they were now.

"Why is everyone buying into Weiss' little theory? She's a Schnee, they're been at war with the Faunus for years, she's going to blame the White Fang for everything." Blake said with a hiss, having taken the mission personally and barely getting any sleep since Friday, as Yang began to fear that Weiss wasn't the only one to potentially let her feelings cloud her judgement. "They're not going to risk being openly active in Vale, just so they can grab some Dust and dispose of it." She insisted, managing to avoid Yang's true question.

It was understandable to see why Blake would take accusations of a planned mass killing by the White Fang personally, when it had been her home and family for who knows how long, and having to see it be turned from something wonderful to something monstrous. When the accusation was coming from Weiss, a representative of the SDC, the prime example of humans benefiting from abusing the Faunus, it must have felt like all the other times that the White Fang had been accused of being disruptive dangers to society.

Only, this time, there seemed to be a lot of proof that the accusation was true.

Silence took over the group, until a certain other blonde spoke up, cheery as always. "On a brighter note," He said, showing a bag filled with different types of fruit. "I've got apples and oranges, which ones do you guys want?" He asked, as Nora just plunged her hand in and began taking a bite out of a red apple.

"Do you have to steal everything?" Blake asked, looking tired with Sun's crazy antics, which Yang found very refreshing during an otherwise utterly depressing weekend.

"Which one of us as a former member of a terrorist group?" He replied, only to wilt at the face of Blake's glare, which was very intimidating for something that resembled a grumpy cat. "Sorry, too soon." He said, taking a quick bite out of an orange and shuffling slightly way from Blake.

"She showed you." Nora said, seemingly having consumed the whole apple in one, Yang already knowing of Nora's magic power since the trip to Forever Fall where five jars of syrup went missing. "This tastes different with the peg on. Do you think pancakes would taste different if I ate them with this on?" She asked, looking at Ren who matched Blake in being the only one keeping watch for something.

"Not the time, Nora." He said, undermined a bit by him moving to take an apple or orange for himself before a powerful blast of air threw the fruit out of Sun's arms and towards the ground.

The source of the wind had been an airship, which seemed to not notice the group below its lights, even when it briefly came over them, which advanced towards the SDC containers and landed right in the centre. The large containers almost felt like lines, showing the craft where it was safe to land, from the view that Yang had from the roof, even if it still wasn't enough for them to see Team JWPR anywhere as the ship turned and landed on the ground.

A large group of masked men and women came out of the ship, all wearing the same uniform as the other, a white mask and jacket that was matched by black underclothing and a belt to keep the jacket attached, ten of them marching down, as a group nearly four times their size emerged from different points in the docks to join them in seizing the containers. It wasn't their numbers that got the group's attention, however, when it came to the red symbol on all of their backs, impossible to not recognise.

"No," Blake put her hands over her face, a flush of ideas coming into her mind of what this meant. "No."

"You really didn't think it was them, did you?" Sun asked, his expression matching everyone else's, uncomfortable with the tragedy of seeing hope crushed before his eyes.

"I think I always knew, I just didn't want to be right." Blake replied, a child seeing her hero betray their ideals or losing something close to them. "That we became a bunch of monsters in human skin." She spoke with hatred, and the fact that Yang couldn't tell who she was aiming it at told her everything she needed to hear before saying something.

Yang grabbed Blake and held her close, wrapping an arm around her and keeping a tight hold. "That's not you, that's them. They became this way, and we're going to make sure that they don't try and make things wor-"

"Come on now, you animals, I'm not paying you to stand around and do nothing." A crabby voice cried out, Yang recognising it as distinctly male, as the source of the voice came out with a swagger. "I had to basically ride in a stable, so let's see if we can see some work-horse ethic here, chop-chop." He commanded, clapping his hands at those last words.

Blake had gone from appearing horrified to just shocked at what she had just seen, Yang recognising the person giving orders as Roman Torchwick, as the group that wanted to kill humans sped up at the snippy commands of a human. "The White Fang would never work with a human. Something's up." She whispered to herself, Yang hearing every word.

"Blake?" Ren asked, concerned for her as Blake stood up and walked to the very edge of the roof.

"I'm going in, don't follow me." She ordered, before leaping off the roof and ran forward, hiding herself behind some of the giant SDC containers and slowly stalking forward, her intentions kind of obvious when her blade was being drawn.

"I'm following her, anyone want to come with?" Sun said, standing up and already running to leap off from the roof, to try and follow Blake to where she had gone.

"Hell to the yeah." Yang readied Ember Celica and turned back to the remaining two in their group, both looking almost disappointed, confirming to Yang that they knew what she was going to say. "Ren, Nora, if things go south, we're going to need you guys to charge in by surprise."

"Roger that, captain." Nora said, saluting her before she followed Sun in leaping down from the roof, as Yang and Sun landed on the ground and followed Blake to where they assumed she had gone, heading for the right side of the docks.

Finding Blake was hard enough, let alone trying to remain as quiet as possible while doing so and avoiding attention from being drawn to them, so it was no surprise that they found her just in time for her to do something crazy and totally not Blake-like. She was stalking behind Torchwick, who was berating two White Fang operatives about getting the wrong sort of tow cable, and moved as fast as a cat, keeping the blade of Gambol Shroud directed right at Torchwick's neck, the operatives of the White Fang raising their own weapons in response.

"This is the Mistral heist all over again. Mind telling me why the sword is there?" Torchwick said, not even looking remotely bothered by the fact that he had a sharp object right at a place he needed to live, which did bother Yang somewhat.

Yang guessed it was a way to win over the crowd, so she tried to contain her shock at seeing Blake remove her bow and reveal her cat ears to the fresh air again, the previous lack of sound making the gasps and mutterings of some of the grunts easy to hear. None of them expected any resistance, Yang guessed, and especially not from a fellow Faunus, which seemed to make the ones with younger voices reluctant to attack.

"Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scoundrel?" Blake asked, her voice loud enough to be heard across the docks, shaming some of them into lowering their weapons. If that bothered Torchwick, he didn't seem to show it, from where Yang and Sun were looking, which made her very worried. _Come on, at least have your knees shake for a second. Anything to make this not feel really stupid._

What he said next only made things even more bizarre for Yang. "You're not one of those 'never work with humans ever' lot, are you?" He asked, shrugging his shoulders without a care and even sighing openly, like he was dealing with some kid's tantrum, rather having his life threatened. "I thought Neo took care of you all long ago, she's normally great at pest-removal. Still, you can't get all the rats, or cat in your case."

"That's not what this is. What are y-" Blake's confusion was met with even more mad rambling, or rather Torchwick's theory of what was going on.

"I suppose the whole 'blow up Beacon with the Dust' plan being canned was your final straw. Look, the logistics alone were a nightmare." He said, almost boasting with the bravado he was openly displaying, as Yang was trying to figure out what his game was.

"What's he-" Sun stopped talking and looked up, to the direct opposite of where Ren and Nora were, and put his hand to his forehand "Oh crap, I think I know his plan."

Yang was about to ask what the hell he was talking about when a bullet of blue and white rushed past them and turned everything behind them into ice, only for another to hit the ground in front of them and turn that into ice, forming a wall alongside the containers. Sun and Yang leapt up to the top of the container and laid low, hiding behind the ice sculpture formed and observed the controlled madness in front of them, nearly all of the White Fang operatives fleeing to the left side of the docks, as the only avenue of escape.

Roman had managed to force Blake off, if his dash to the airship was anything to go by, even as the pilots fled as well, only for the ship to turn to ice as well. The rounds were coming from the roof, only they seemed different from before, now breaking into several smaller rounds that then created a massive wall of ice, now blocking off the right side of the docks and now focusing on the left side, entrapping them on the left side. There, they were being taken down by something, and those who tried to get over via the rooftops were quickly frozen in ice.

It was like some morbid winter wonderland, and Yang and Sun remained safe from it by virtue of hiding behind one such ice sculpture, formed by the rapid rounds.

From her limited sight, she could see that it had been Ruby and Weiss who had set-up that trap for Roman and the White Fang, Ruby's squeal of how cool it was to enter slowed-down time being gently admonished by Weiss, who was now talking about going to the ground-level to find Roman. Yang had a little squeal herself over how cool Ruby had been, and decided to include that in her apology, readying to come out and give her sister the biggest hug she ever had, smiling as she thought of the right pun to use. _That was pretty cool, little sis. Pretty c-_

Sun pointed violently at Blake, and Yang could already tell that she was frozen to the spot, not out of being hit by one of those rounds, but from fear of the two girls pointing Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster at her. "Brothers of the White Fang, that's what you said." Weiss said, the accusation blatant in her voice, while Ruby seemed a mixture of furious and heartbroken.

Blake tried to defend herself, even when the effort was obviously doomed from the start. "Weiss, you don-"

"Shut up." Weiss commanded, before turning to her partner and speaking as if they were facing some sort of dangerous animal. "Ruby, we'll need to find a way to restrain her, we can use White Rose again, that'll stop her from doing anything silly. The cold can even be a nice preview of her life in jail"

"Right." Ruby said, before glaring at Blake with an intensity that Yang never knew she had. "Yang trusted you, Blake. You were just going to kill her, without even blinking?" She asked, Crescent Rose pointed right at Blake's mid-section.

Sun stood up and held Ruyi and Jingu in his hands, readying himself to charge forward. "I'm gonna put a stop to th-"

He was cut off by his own sputtering, two arms grasping his body tightly and not even budging against his struggle to break free, his captor's green eyes glowing with joy at her catch. "Friend Ruby, I found the Faunus you guys were chasing." The mysterious girl said, Yang wondering how she could say that as if he was just something she was getting from the shops. "He was with your sister. From the information I have received about both, I'm presuming that she was taken captive, after attempting to try and help you if you needed it." She added, which didn't make things better.

The little winter wonderland had become some sort of nightmare. Blake was being cornered like an animal, and was going to be treated like one if Yang couldn't stop her, Ruby looked near the point of absolute rage and Weiss seemed to be egging Ruby on, commenting about Blake's 'betrayal' of what they stood for. Sun was now trapped in a bearhug from hell by some strange girl who Ruby made friends with and now Yang was about to see two friends get locked up, or worse, if she didn't find a way to stop Ruby and Weiss.

_Could have just done your fucking homework, Yang, and this wouldn't be a problem._

* * *

Ruby didn't think that the last half-minute or so could make things so messed up.

The plan, after numerous arguments about when the White Fang would try and land and whether to use attacks that could detonate the Dust containers, had finally been hashed out by the teamwork of Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc, and Weiss Schnee after she shot down most of the other plans. They timed it at the midnight shift, when the guards were at their lowest level, thanks to Weiss and Ruby's detective work at the CCT, and even planned a way for them to triumph even if the idea of the White Fang and Torchwick working together was true.

JWPR was to split into two groups, the first would be Jaune and Pyrrha who would be tasked with finding the right hiding spots on the left side of the docks and readying themselves to attack, the second that the White Fang and/or Torchwick's goons were to be trapped, they would strike at them and take them down. Ruby and Weiss' use of White Rose was designed to create a circular wall of ice, with the bad guy's larger numbers rendered meaningless by their panic and being stuck in the gaps between the containers, allowing the two to smash their way through and taken them all down.

They were going to be assisted by this by the second group, which was Ruby, Weiss and Penny, who would take a position on the roof of the building overseeing the only spot far enough to not attract attention or minimum-wage guard attention and large enough to fit the transport needed to move those containers, who were in charge of separating any big-hitters from the grunts and taking down their method of escape. For this, Ruby had even bought cluster-rounds, normally not that great for a sniper rifle, but really great when working with glyphs that can create ice and slow down time.

With that, Ruby and Weiss would then disable the airship before they leapt down and dealt with Torchwick or the White Fang's boss for the mission, turning out to be the former, and take him down to Vaccuo-Town. Penny seemed eager to offer assistance, and she was tough enough to qualify in the Vytal Tournament, so Ruby reluctantly accepted her help in taking down Torchwick and any other tough guy who got in their way.

Weiss had assured them that the ice rounds wouldn't cause nearly as much damage to the docks, compared to regular or other enhancements, since they wouldn't set off the Dust and that even the powdered Dust was in a chilled state inside the container and Ruby had taken her word for it after that. The easy method of breaking the ice itself meaning that the bad guy boss could be captured and then taken for questioning easily, and that it allowed them to avoid killing anyone or causing heavy damage to the docks.

Team JWPR was supposed to basically finish the job, clean-up the rest and get them tied up or captured in some way, and then hand them over to the police with their theory of what they were planning to do. After that, the authorities would know what was going on and then take action, while everyone could return to Beacon as super-cool heroes and heroines who weren't weights on people's lives. _Only now, one of our friends is a traitor._

"Yang?" She called out, trying to get through to her sister, who seemed frozen to the spot out of fear, Blake's betrayal probably hitting her hardest. Ruby quickly figured out that Yang must have been ordered not to help by Blake, probably with some made-up reason, and instead got caught by Blake's little sidekick, currently restrained by Penny. _Looks like you wanted to play pretend, after all._ Ruby thought, happy that her sister really didn't mean those words.

"Ruby, we need to restrain these two." Weiss said, the ice cutting through Ruby's day-technically night-dream. "We've already forced most of the White Fang into that one spot, Pyrrha and Jaune are more than capable for the time being. Ruby, we just need to keep these two from trying to run, or steal samples for their own devices. We can meet up with Pyrrha and Jaune and the six of us can drive the rest of these scum off, the police should be arriving soon enough, that's when we can cart them off to their new home." Weiss said, Ruby nodding and keeping Crescent Rose pointed at the traitor.

Blake looked at her in the eye, with fear that she never associated with Blake before, along with treachery. "Ruby, you don't understan-"

"Yang was your friend, and you took her hostage, so you can go and blow up Beacon?" Ruby shouted those last few words, not liking how even now Yang was too silent to do anything. "Why?" She asked, trying to understand how someone could be so cruel as to form a bond like that to just throw it away.

"It's what her kind do." Weiss said, answering Ruby's question for her, memories of Blake already turning bitter from the realisation that it had all been a lie.

"No! You've all got it wrong, I left the White Fang once they turned violent, I'm not planning on destroying Beacon." Blake said, her back against the wall and legs shaking from sheer panic, neither Weiss nor Ruby moving their weapons away. From a short distance away, grunts of pain that weren't Jaune or Pyrrha's was signalling that the plan was working fine on all other ends.

"My s-ability to detect vibrational shifts-hik-indicates that she is telling the truth about her discontinued membership and not wishing to destroy Beacon." Penny said, which made Ruby almost direct Crescent Rose away from Blake, while Weiss still seemed sceptical. "She is lying about the moment in which she left the group."

If anything, those words had now made Weiss even more determined to keep Myrtenaster focused on the possible traitor, even if Ruby now started to have some doubts.

"You see? She joined a radical off-shoot, just like Torchwick said, and is probably trying to use the Dust for her own means." She said, looking to Ruby desperately, as Penny's captive struggled to try and say something, only for the girl's iron grip to stay firm.

"No, she's trying to help stop all of this. It doesn't matter when she left, just that she did leave and isn't trying to hurt anyone anymore." Yang said, from atop the container, leaping down to the ground and slowly moving towards Blake, which just confused Ruby even more.

"So you're not a hostage?" Ruby had all but moved Crescent Rose away from Blake, trying to understand what was going on, when Weiss snapped again.

"Of course when she left matters! How do you know that she didn't just leave when these mindless monsters started working with Torchwick?" The normally calm and poised heiress was now almost spitting out the words, her eyes ablaze with fury. "Even if it's true, you heard Penny, she stayed when they turned violent and we don't even know for how long. We can't trust people like her. How many people do you think had to be slaughtered before scum like her realised it was wrong?" She all but screamed, Ruby having no answer.

Blake didn't seem to want to remain on the defensive for any longer, judging from the step forward she took and the defiant look in her eye. "We are not mindless monsters! Do-"

"What's going to happen is that we're all going to calm down and you both move your weapons away from Blake." Yang said, her voice leaving no chance for arguing, as she then shoved Blake behind her and stood between her and Ruby and Weiss. "Ruby, you know this is crazy." She gave a pleading look to Ruby, as if she was the only one who could calm Weiss down.

"Weiss, we should try and focus on the White Fang." Ruby spoke quietly, even as she was starting to wonder where exactly Torchwick had gone off to.

"Ruby, don't you get it? This is what she wants us to do, let her go so she can run off and plot some other scheme to cut our throats open while we sleep!" Weiss roared, only there was a bit of desperation in each word, as if she was finger herself surrounded and Ruby was her only hope of escape. "She's been with her team for months now, she's probably been feeding them White Fang propaganda to make them willing to protect her and think that their victims have it coming. She didn't come her to stop Torchwick, she came here to co-opt his scheme."

"That's not true."

"My sen-"

"Nora Smash!" A blurry image of a girl with a hammer, smashing it onto the ground, was all Ruby saw before went flying back towards the ice wall, before Weiss managed to catch her with a black glyph. Penny had only stumbled a bit back, yet her grip on the other Faunus hadn't weakened at all, as Nora began to swing Magnhild like it weighed nothing, Ren speaking to Yang and Blake. "Nice try, Ice Queen, but no one's hurting Blake." She said, pointing her hammer right at Weiss.

"We'll explain everything later, however, Team Burgundy is not going to stand by and let this go on." Ren added, StormFlower right in his hands.

"We can take you on, isn't that right, Ruby?" Weiss looked at Ruby as if they were fighting some group of bad guys, goons to be cut down, rather than their friends. Ruby didn't even know if Blake would help Ren and Nora and even if Ruby and Weiss could beat them and leave Jaune and Pyrrha to deal with the White Fang. _Can we? And do we even want to fight our friends?_

"I'm afraid I cannot let you do that." Only Ruby could see, from her angle, but Penny's backpack opened to reveal multiple different swords, all pointing at Team BRNY, as Penny actually looked upset for the first time ever. "Fighting both close and long range reduces my efficiency heavily, however, my battle standards are more than sufficient to deal with all four of you, if you attempt to harm my friends." She said, glaring at the group.

"You bet so, wise guy?" Nora asked, turning Magnhild towards Penny, with a stereotypical mobster accent before becoming embarrassed with herself. "Whoops. I mean, wise gal?"

Some sort of stand-off had come into play now. Ruby could see Weiss aiming Myrtenaster right at Blake, who now had Gambsol Shroud at the ready, while Ren and Nora seemed concerned with trying to back-up their leader if not for the presence of Penny who could be dealing with three different opponents. Ruby and Yang seemed to be the only ones who wanted to avoid fighting entirely, while Blake was switching between convincing Weiss to stand down to actually wanting to fight herself, when Jaune and Pyrrha were actually trying to fight the real bad guys.

The tension was broken by two different explosions. One occurred fairly high in the sky, while the other blasted the ice wall on the middle of the left side open, leaving a gap in the barrier that was supposed to reduce the White Fang's number advantage, which made Jaune's rapid retreat out of there all the more worrying for Ruby to think about. He was panting as he left, only he seemed desperate enough to ignore the atmosphere and look at the entire group.

"Guys!" He screamed out, holding Crocea Mors and barely registering Team BRNY's presence with a nod. "We need to help Pyrrha. We took out about twenty and the rest were surrendering until Torchwick somehow got in and broke one of the ice walls and is now kind of leading the White Fang out of here to kill us all." As he said that, the sounds of two weapons clashing against one another rang through the air, Jaune running back to them and focusing Crocea Mors at the gap, ready to hit at whatever emerged.

Pyrrha and Torchwick were moving towards them, Pyrrha being pushed back by Torchwick's intense assault, only at times it looked as if the two were trapped in a stalemate. Pyrrha took her chance when Torchwick missed a side-swing, only for him to move back and send his cane in a downward slash, before Pyrrha would block it again and the two would dance again, Pyrrha's skill against Torchwick's experience kept the other from coming out on top.

That was, until a White Fang grunt would charge at her and force her to divide her attention, a quick parry to a lanky minion with two daggers had left her open to a blast from Torchwick's cane, blocked only by Akuou being pulled up at the last second. It didn't stop her from being sent flying across the area, from the close the explosion had been, but it did allow her to join up with the wider group, facing down Torchwick and the thirty goons that remained, the masked Faunus forming a set of lines behind him, swordsmen at the front and gun-wielders at the back.

Ruby turned to her partner, who kept a sharp gaze directed at the enemy in front of them. "Weiss, I know that you're angry and disappointed in Blake, but she did leave the White Fang. If you want to ask her about her past, that's your issue with her, but right now we have to work together, even if some of us don't want to." Weiss had a moment of conflict, glaring at Blake, before sighing and nodding at Ruby's request. "Alright, let's do this. You're going down, Torchwick!"

He didn't seem to take her threat seriously, if that laugh was anything to go by. "Oh really, Red? Because I think it's time that you little brats regret breaking out of bedtime." Torchwick turned to the White Fang behind him and almost rallied his troops. "Come on now, you've got a Schnee, two race-traitors and a gaggle of human brats who want to see you rot! Let's see what you animals can do!"

Penny had already let go of the Faunus, who Yang referred to as Sun, and the two joined Team JWPR and BRNY in facing down the small army of Faunus that was now charging forward against the ten of them, who quickly surged forward to meet them, weapons drawn against the enemy. The explosion in the sky must have meant something, since about twenty more White Fang goons poured out of the left wall's gap and joined their brothers and sisters in trying to defeat the Beacon students.

Boy, were they in for a surprise.

Jaune wasn't the toughest student in Beacon, but he was still a student of Beacon and had months of training in him, more than enough to deal with the opponents he faced, joining Pyrrha in fighting off the ten that had surrounded the two of them. Pyrrha was disarming each of them with ease, removing axes, rifles and blades from their hands and smashing Akuou onto them, knocking them down, Jaune was managing to hold his own as well, matching swords with two opponents at once, meeting their blows with his own and smacked their faces with the end of his hilt.

The final one decided to flee, after seeing that.

Torchwick was moving forward, probably to try and take out whoever was causing the most trouble for his little army when two blurs came flying at him, Ruby realising that it was actually Blake and Ren. Blake was striking hard with Gambol Shroud and diverting Roman's attention away with her shadow images, Torchwick seemed to power through them, only for Ren to use StormFlower's blades to try and cut at his cane, keeping Torchwick distracted.

Forcing him to stumble back, Blake and Ren moved their blades down, Torchwick holding both weapons back with his cane, and keeping his head away from StormFlower's barrels. Neither seemed able to move, and Torchwick's smirk seemed to say that he had some trick up his sleeve that would give him the win, only for Ruby to see the most satisfying thing this night had to offer to her.

It was clear now that Blake and Ren had been leading up to this point, waiting for the right moment to keep Torchwick still and unable to use his cane for when Yang charged in to smash her fist against his face, having busied herself with trading blows with various beefy White Fang members, giving her Semblance a nice glow. The result was that Torchwick was sent flying back all the way back to the broken ice wall, where he'd probably smash against one of the containers or walls, only for another glorious moment to come forth.

Nora, with Magnhild in her hands, was right at the gap in the wall and was ready for Torchwick to come right at her, chest first. "Batter up!" She cried out, smashing Magnhild against Torchwick's stomach and sending him flying across to the other side of the docks, rolling onto one of the containers and disappearing from sight. Ruby was more than sure that that had been enough to put Roman Torchwick out of commission.

With that, the four of them charged back at the rest of the bad guys, some of whom were already losing heart at how badly Torchwick just got his butt kicked. Nora had changed Magnhild from a hammer to a grenade-launcher, and was currently creating an open field for Blake and Ren to knock out any stragglers, before Yang went to almost mark the next group with a series of punches.

Sun himself seemed to be doing well, dodging all the cuts and bullets fired at him, as he managed to smack down the masked figures surrounding him with his staff, as he then faced down the remaining five with a blow to the face on the first, smashed the end of his staff on the mask of another and launched a flying kick to the one on the middle. A female and male member were left, both carrying scimitars, and boldly charged forth, only for Sun to roll across the gap between the two and smack them on the back of the head.

Ruby and Weiss, on the other hand, had chosen for a more indirect method of taking down the bad guys, which was to basically keep them off everyone's back. Standing on top of a SDC container, they used their height advantage to rain down doom and destruction onto the White Fang, Weiss summoning another blue glyph for which Ruby fired rounds from again, the ice blasts freezing some of the limbs of the White Fang members to the ground and managing to even freeze some entirely.

Things seemed to be going back on track, or rather as much as they possibly could, until Ruby heard the sounds of airships approaching. The White Fang's small army were nearing defeat, only about twenty fighters remaining and no sign of any of them slowing down, but they seemed to now rally at the idea of air support, while Ruby and Weiss were wondering how they were going to face off against multiple airships.

Where did these airships even come from?

The three airships fired a volley of bullets down the line, forcing everyone to move back towards the containers for cover, only for the airships to turn around and aim their guns right at the containers, which were probably going to explode with that sort of firepower. Ruby tried to think of a way for her and Weiss to take all of them out, when she saw Penny practically skip to the centre of the docks and ready her swords.

Before she could try and warn Penny to run away, the girl had another two swords fly out of her backpack and embed themselves onto the wall, with strings attached to them from said backpack. Penny flew to the building and organised her swords into a circle formation, the blades pointing out, as she seemed to gather Aura between them, the ball of green energy growing and growing, until it was released as one giant beam, slicing between the centre and right airships, like a hot knife to butter.

Ruby, however, was distracted from Penny's annihilation of the airships by something else entirely. Weiss was no longer next to her and was currently standing right next to an unconscious member of the White Fang, looking to have almost fallen off the docks and into the water, were it not for a piece of ice that held his hand to the ground. A piece of ice that Weiss currently had her shoe hovering over, the slightest pressure looking enough to cause the ice to crack and break apart, leaving nothing to stop the Faunus from drowning.

The others were distracted by Penny's display, but Ruby still whispered, not wanting anyone to see. "Weiss, no!" She said, berating herself for how scared she sounded now. "You can't, he's beaten."

"They killed people I knew and loved," Weiss said, her voice quite, as if she wasn't even sure what she was doing. "Why shouldn't I do the same?" She asked, looking at Ruby for some sort of answer, the look in her eyes telling Ruby that she was conflicted about her next action.

"You're not a murderer." Ruby said, moving closer to Weiss, intending to slowly move her away from the Faunus and back to where the others were.

"Exactly what do you think we do to the Grimm, to human opponents we'll face as Huntresses?" Weiss replied, far too bitter for anyone their age to sound. Ruby could guess that this was the first time that Weiss had truly looked at a member of the White Fang, free from the barrier of only hearing about them and seeing them on the TV, and the liberating feeling of fighting them.

Here, he was just someone who couldn't do anything.

"Not when they're defenceless, and not without proper authority." Ruby spoke with firmness, not accepting the idea of Weiss letting herself become what she hated most, to take-up what she despised most about the White Fang.

"No one would miss him, no one would even know." Weiss hissed, sounding more like she was attempting to convince herself than Ruby of the benefits of her potential deed. "So, Ruby, why exactly should I let a killer like him go?" She asked, looking her in the eye, expecting, no, _begging_ for an answer that could sate her lust for revenge.

"Because you're better than that, you're not the kind to kill someone like that, and you're better than the kind of people who do that." Ruby then felt shyness take over, much to her horror, as she looked sideways before turning back to Weiss. "At least, I think you are."

It was the longest five seconds of Ruby's life, but it was worth it to see Weiss dredge the Faunus out of the water and then break the ice, moving the member to rest on one of the containers. Ruby hugged Weiss as tightly as she could, much to the now very-loud complaints of the heiress, but Ruby didn't care when she had saved her partner from becoming a monster herself, said partner just sighing and demanding that they meet up with the others.

Seeing Blake's figure was a bit awkward for both girls, seeing as Ruby had assumed she tried to take Yang hostage and Weiss having questions that would need to be answered, only the sight of Jaune waving to them and running up to them was a nice sight. With Weiss on her right, and Jaune kind of trailing behind them now, and Pyrrha waiting for them, things felt right for Team JWPR again.

"How did she even do that?" He asked, motioning to Penny who seemed almost nervous about the attention she was receiving, and less about the wreckage of the third airship right next to her.

_I honestly don't know._ Ruby, however, knew that that kind of answer was lame and boring and decided on the more fun answer, before shrugging. "She's a lot tougher than she looks."

"And you're deader than you look." The three of them turned to see Torchwick, with somewhat shaky legs, aiming his cane right at Ruby and smiling. "Not my best, but what can you do?" He asked, before firing his shots and immediately turning to flee somewhere.

The two shots were clearly aimed at Ruby, time slowed down for her as she realised that the bullets would hit their mark way before she could use her Semblance, and even then it would expose Weiss and Jaune to the explosion. Before she could even think of how to get those two out of the way, Ruby felt something beneath her feet and was shot across the area, back to the others and far away from the rounds. It didn't take much thought to realise what just happened. _No! Weiss, why?_

The heiress gave Ruby a calm smile, one that was genuinely happy enough to break Ruby's heart, when she saw some figure grab hold of Weiss and throw her away from the spot, her serene smile turning into surprise as she also landed far enough from the rounds to avoid harm. Ruby realised what that had meant, with him giving up the time to raise his shield and protect himself to save Weiss, Jaune had just exposed himself to Torchwick's bullets.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha screamed out in horror, as the first shot smashed against his chestplate, breaking it apart, before his involuntary turn exposed his left side to the second bullet, as the smoke from the bullets prevented them from seeing anymore.

Ruby didn't know if she wanted to.

The smoke was present, dissipating at a slow pace that almost mocked them all, as Pyrrha covered her mouth with her hand and seemed too taken aback to truly express her sadness, Penny seemed confused with what had just happened, Ruby felt her eyes become wet and Weiss remained stuck in the same spot she landed on after Jaune's throw, her expression hidden to everyone. She stuck there, as if waiting for something to change.

Blake stepped forward. "Weiss, I'm so-"

"This is all your kind's fault!" Weiss howled, turning her head back to reveal the tears running down her face, her sadness turning to rage against the first thing she could latch onto. "You keep killing them! You, and the rest of the White Fang! Uncle Horace, Mr Dolfuss, Auntie Jane, I keep losing family and friends to you all! Why? What are you getting from this?"

"Ow..." A voice rang out, stopping Weiss from ranting and Blake's look of tormented guilt to become confusion. Everyone had gone from heartbreak to confusion, apart from Penny who remained confused as ever, probably wondering how he had managed to survive getting shot by a Dust round without protection of any kind.

Jaune Arc himself was now nervously trying to stand tall, a championing knight, an image that relied on a chestplate that wasn't nearly falling to bits and revealing some kind of symbol attached to the armour. The sheath/shield of Crocea Mors had a bit of wear and tear on it, probably the result of the explosion and smashing onto the ground with so much force, while his black jacket was now half a jacket, with the whole right side being torn to bits.

"That was a personally-styled jacket." He said, almost whining, before he then looked at his hands and to his friends, appearing as confused as they were. "Wait, why am I not dead?" He asked, before running his hands across his hair.

* * *

Jaune didn't know why not a single hair was singed, or why he hadn't died from that, however he wasn't going to complain when life was giving him lemonade.

"Oh come on!" A voice cried out, from atop the container on the right side of the docks, beyond the wall of ice and near where the rest of the docks were. "You kids just keep getting weirder." He muttered, somehow being heard by Jaune.

He didn't remember much during the explosion, mostly such bright colours and everything feeling really hot, but he did feel his whole body kind of glow around him during the whole thing and the sensation of hitting something without actually moving his limbs. He'd try and figure out what the hell it was supposed to be, only he was more focused on chasing down the guy who was about to get away with almost murdering Jaune and, more importantly, attempted to kill his friends. Yeah, I'm not letting the guy who just shot at my friends get away with that.

With that, and feeling new energy in him, Jaune rushed forward and leapt onto the ice, forcing himself to climb on top of the Dust container, and bolted forward. Leaping on the containers ahead, Jaune found himself slowly closing the distance between him and Torchwick, who was heading for yet another airship that somehow escaped their notice, even if it left Jaune to wonder where these airships were coming from. Making it to the ground, behind the building where some of the White Fang were boarding some of their wounded and unconscious comrades, Torchwick turned to face Jaune.

"Oh ho, I recognise that little symbol." He said, pointing at the exposed symbol of a sword piercing the moon, left exposed for all to see. "I worked with a de Rais once, when I was a little shit like you guys. Pretty cool guy named Gus, until someone suggested we try and rob a casino in Atlas and he cut off their head with the most fucked up laugh ever, made things a bit awkward after that."

Three relatively fine White Fang soldiers came after him, all armed with swords and ready to use them on him, while Torchwick seemed happy to watch them try and butcher him where he stood, while Jaune was paying the price for his sprinting exercise. He was running on his last bits of energy and needed to fend off these guys without killing them, mostly because Jaune didn't exactly want to kill someone in his first year, and the scent and look of blood made him faint, not the best thing to do in the current situation.

He did have one solution, which was the Dust-infusion mechanism that Weiss had equipped to the new hilt of Crocea Mors, only she had never really given him clear instructions on how to use it and not go full or none Dust infusion, while even Pyrrha had trouble with figuring out Weiss' technical jargon. He needed to try and block out the stuff about how it worked and focused on what worked, otherwise he would only be able to use it once and die, or worse, not be able to use it at all and die. He cheated death once, he just needed to do it again.

_Come on, Jaune. You can do this!_ His mind screamed, everything becoming super-slow as Jaune noticed the four buttons on the top part of the hilt, all of them different colours and on a little wheel that Jaune could spin with his thumb, the colours were blue, red, green and brown, the colours of Dust's basic variations. Feeling everything speed up, with each goon readying their blade to strike and Torchwick looking gleeful at the idea, Jaune made his move.

He charged, readying his shield as it made contact with all three blades and he pushed as hard as he could, driving all three back in the course of two seconds. In those two seconds, Jaune had rested his thumb on the green button and kept it there, seeing Crocea Mors' blade turn green from the Dust infusion, leading Jaune to let go of the button and use a rightward swing, unleashing an arc of green energy that blew the Faunus back, sending them flying.

Maybe seeing that things were beginning to go downhill, Torchwick was running straight for the airship and seemed to be motioning two active Faunus to move some of their comatose friends to give him standing room. Not wanting him to get away, Jaune flipped the circle and pressed the red button and held it for about five seconds, feeling his sword begin to shake as it became brighter and soon began to warm Jaune's hands, before he thrust forward and expelled a large ball of red energy. Torchwick could hear the blast and ducked, even saving his hat, as the blast went through the airship's hole and towards the ocean.

"If that's how you want to play this little game." Torchwick said, no trace of mocking as he swung his cane as if it were a sword in its own right. "Then let's play it."

He stalked over to Jaune, who may have made the mistake of charging to fight a guy who could hold his own against Pyrrha. Jaune tried his best, blocking the worst of the blows and directing the cane away from his face when it fired, including a few close shots that were close enough for him to feel the heat coming off from them, only for Torchwick to easily counter Jaune's own attacks and force him back, as the rest of the White Fang tried to get as many of their guys into the airship as possible. Torchwick, meanwhile, was engaging in mid-battle taunting, which didn't say much for Jaune's position.

"Tell me, which one are you more related to, the woman who buried those captives alive, or the guy whose victims they're still finding bodies for?" Torchwick asked, the grin on his face like a predator finding its prey trapped and wounded. Jaune knew that Torchwick was trying to distract him by dragging him into talking while fighting, something that Jaune resisted, as he tried to find a way to beat this guy. _Stay focused, Jaune, remember what Pyrrha said during all those lessons._

He knew that Roman Torchwick had more experience than him, with his life of crime, and that he could match someone like Pyrrha in combat without having to cheat, another thing that Jaune had to try and look out for. Jaune, on the other hand, was running on fumes, was alone and couldn't beat Pyrrha at his best, let alone right now. There was no way for him to overpower Torchwick at all, even if he did, the guy would just cheat som-

_Wait, I don't need to be stronger than him._ Jaune's grip on Crocea Mors tightened, the plan in his mind giving him new strength._ I just need to be smarter at it than him._

"Wind Arc!" He cried out, holding the green button on his hilt and grunting through the pain of another cane-related attack, two seconds passed and he swung, Roman forced to dodge the energy that managed to blow him back, giving Jaune time to press the brown button for a second. "Thunder Bolt!" As he cried out those words, a ball of brown energy, electricity coming from it, shot right at Roman, who barely got out of the way, but not before his left leg could be given a slight shock, forcing him to stumble back.

Torchwick smirked, which made Jaune almost smirk back, but he kept his face from changing from the constant focus he had on it, pressing the blue button and letting it charge. "Ice Bla-" Jaune was cut off by Torchwick slamming his cane's side onto the warrior's stomach, causing him to fall to the ground on his arse, not noticing that he had yet to let go of the suddenly freezing button on the hilt.

Seeing Crocea Mors turn the very ground into ice, Jaune forced his thumb off, and jabbed the sword forward, unleashing a torrent of blue turning everything to ice, before it hit the end of the floor and exploded, creating a mini-iceburg. "Can't keep charging that thing for too long, can you?" Torchwick asked, twirling his cane and stalking around Jaune. "That's the thing about these fancy weapons, you gotta do it fast or let it explode all over the place. I knew a guy who suffered from that, only his sword was a bit different to yours."

A brutal kick to the chest, where the cane had hit, stopped Jaune from breathing momentarily, but it was all worth it to see that Torchwick believed that he figured it all out. Jaune struggled to stand up, forcing himself away from an approaching Torchwick, and aimed his blade right at the criminal mastermind. _Now for the finishing touch._

He only had one shot at this. Recalling Pyrrha's advice about enhancing his abilities, Jaune focused all the Aura he could towards his legs, kept them steady and leapt into the sky as Torchwick aimed his cane and fired at the Beacon student. Jaune readied himself, seeing Torchwick keep his sights set on Jaune, and hoped in the man's ability to appreciate dramatic irony, as Jaune held his sword high and said the words.

"Flame Arc!" He cried out, as he started to fall to the ground and held the button on the hilt, feeling the blade of Crocea Mors infuse itself with Dust again, Torchwick smiling like a mad man in the face of what he thought he was seeing and getting._ Get ready for him to call you predictable._

"You kids are always so damn predictable." He said, pointing his cane right at Jaune and waiting for the right moment, maybe planning on firing and letting the metal break apart when facing his rounds, seeing as it should be weaker from being heated so much. Jaune could see why he would do that, only for Jaune to swing his blade down, seeing Torchwick take a few steps back and let the tip of Jaune's sword touch the tip of his cane, pulling the trigger.

The cane's barrel froze instantly, a block of ice dragging it down, Crocea Mors almost sighing in relief as the cold blue Dust reaction left it. Roman Torchwick's shock didn't just ended with his weapon freezing, as his trigger-pulling also meant that a bullet was meeting ice and had nowhere else to go, Jaune rushing away from Torchwick, not wanting to be hit by anything. The treasured cane broke apart, the audacity of it all must have slowed Torchwick's reaction time, since he barely did anything to stop his next move.

With momentum with him, and assuming that the cane might have somehow survived his plan, Jaune then unleashed an upward slash from right to left, the great mastermind stumbling back more from recoil than instinct, made it through with a very thin cut across his chest that cut apart the front part of his clothes. Jaune was actually rather thankful for that, not sure how he would have dealt with Torchwick suffering a more serious wound.

"You sneaky little son of a bitch." Roman Torchwick's laugh had anything but humour in it, and his eyes seemed to promise a slow and painful death. "I'd be impressed if I wasn't filled with rage, at the moment."

"Jaune!" A voice cried out, Jaune turning to see that it had come from his partner, backed up by Ruby and Weiss. "I'll be there in a second." Pyrrha assured, as she was surrounded by the last active White Fang troops, these guys probably wounded in the earlier fight.

One surged forward, his mask making it difficult to identify him beyond him being large and bulky, only for Pyrrha to duck and use his momentum to throw him over her shield and onto his back, causing him to cry out in pain. The other male one had two daggers and seemed happy to take advantage of his partner stealing attention, only for both blades to be blocked by Pyrrha's own before he then became the victim of a powerful kick to the chest. The last was a girl who was content to fire her gun at Pyrrha, were it not for the shield being thrown right at her which then went back to the larger opponent, who was again a victim of the shield as it knocked him out.

Pyrrha might have used her Semblance for that last one, but it still amazed Jaune how cool she was.

She rushed to Jaune's side, Ruby and Weiss backing them up, as all four became a human barrier between Torchwick and the airship, none planning on letting him get past them. That, however, quickly became something they couldn't control as the airship apparently seemed happy to go without Torchwick, only for the airblast tripping them forward to suggest otherwise, giving the man a chance to run and leap over them to safety.

"Good, the animals can actually think." He shouted, Jaune unable to tell who exactly he was talking to, before he leapt up and was helped onto the carrier part of the airship, giving Team JWPR a mocking wave goodbye. "I'll let you guys enjoy whatever you think this is." He said, as other White Fang members were trying to get on as well, some succeeding and others taking their chances on their own.

"Well, that wasn't a complete disaster." Jaune admitted. On the one hand, Roman and a lot of the White Fang seemed to have gotten away, and on the other, they caught a majority of them and had proof that the White Fang were behind all of the recent Dust robberies, along with working with Roman Torchwick, so who knows how many crimes they could now be linked with.

"Jaune, I saw that trick you pulled, I'm so proud of you." Pyrrha said, before he then hugged him out of nowhere. A second later, she let go and both of them were left blushing, Jaune wondering if he was going to faint at this out of everything that had happened. "I-I mean, we should probably help the others gather the White Fang captives, there are some who were badly wounded, even with the planning we put into all of this."

"I could have done better, like expecting the ice walls to break." Jaune said to himself, recalling the many plans he and Ruby came up with, yet neither of them even thought about Torchwick moving to help them, or someone distracting Ruby and Weiss while that happened, or even the idea that BRNY would be monitoring them from afar, or that Blake was a Faunus. The second they had Operation Beatdown Town set up, named by Ruby as per team leader rights apparently, they assumed it would all go fine.

"Jaune, we prevented them from stealing from the frigate, are about to have multiple signs of proof that the White Fang are indeed planning something sinister and you managed to wound one of the more famous criminals of Vale. If someone could do better, I'd like to hear some names." Pyrrha said, as Weiss and Ruby nodded in agreement, Jaune particularly very happy about earning the friendship of the former back, after having lost it for his own stupidity.

_Yeah, we did do pretty awesome._ Jaune admitted to himself, before realising one giant elephant in the room, or rather one giant cat in the room. "What about Blake? Didn't you notice the c-"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Pyrrha said, closing her eyes and sighing, Ruby looking worried at Weiss and Pyrrha seemed concerned as well. "I imagine that we'll be crossing it very soon. For now, though, let's just help everyone wrap up this night." She said, everyone accepting that idea as the best one.

Jaune never thought that the sound of police sirens blaring in the night could be comforting, but it was and it let Jaune reflect about how things really went that night, including how cool things got when it was him and Pyrrha against practically an army.

"You do realise how awesome you were in that fight right?" He asked Pyrrha, who just blushed again at the complement "Remember when we got surrounded by ten of those guys and you knocked out five of them at once? We're like the best battle-buddies ever." Jaune asked, Ruby and Weiss looking at Pyrrha with admiration and seemed ready to beg her to tell them more about what happened, not noticing what Jaune ended with.

Pyrrha smiled at that and put her arm around his neck, pulling him in closer. "I do remember a certain someone holding off two different opponents and then letting them knock one another out, before taking down another."

So the two talked, and talked, as they went to help BRNY gather the captured and unconscious enemy and organise them properly, yeah they were criminals and wanted to kill humanity, but that didn't mean that they had to become as bad as the White Fang thought they were. Besides, maybe showing how nice humans can be would convince them to help the authorities figure out what the big plan is supposed to be.

After all, as Jaune's mother said, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.

* * *

Weiss found it interesting that there were enough crates to sit ten people, empty enough that nothing interesting was in them and were just apparently gathering dust otherwise, it felt as if cosmic forces were forcing them all together to reflect on what just happened. She was never one to buy into such rubbish, however, never truly buying into the idea that star alignments predicted how your life was to turn out, outside of vague words that allowed for anything to be seen as vindication of such predictions.

Still, if such cosmic forces existed, she supposed it might have been some sort of reward for their actions tonight. Thanks to the joint efforts of Team JWPR and BRNY, even if the former did most of the planning, nearly thirty-five White Fang members were going to be sent to jail to await trial for their crimes, ten of those first gaining a trip to the hospital to ensure that they were in proper conditions for a trial, while the two teams were awaiting a ride back to Beacon.

The police now also knew that this was not a one-off, rather a single part of a larger plan that would now be looked into in an investigation led by Professor Ozpin himself, who else could they ask for to make sure that the matter was being seen to? The White Fang and Torchwick's plan was now derailed somewhat and everything had sort-of went according to plan, even if Torchwick got away again, but Weiss was left with more than a bit of discontent.

Her actions during Penny's battle, if it could even be called that, with the airships were a strong factor in her melancholy.

_I almost became like them, a murderer._ She saw the Faunus kept alive by a single bit of ice and went numb, she had thought of all the times that the White Fang made those messages about how her loved ones' death was some sort of justice, all the people they planned to make suffer, and got the idea that killing this one person would somehow make it better. All it would have done would be to drag her down a path that would only end in massive mutual bloodshed.

If it hadn't been for Ruby, Weiss didn't want to think about what she might have done, left alone in the dark where no one would know what she would have become. All the suspicion and coldness that took over Ice Palace during the war with the White Fang had yet to overwhelm her, force her into following every damn pattern her father required to make everything seem fine, as seen from her delightfully asymmetrical ponytail. Her morality would have been the latest casualty of the war between the SDC and the White Fang.

Now the matter of Blake Belladona came to Weiss' mind. She had hidden the fact that she was a Faunus and a member of the White Fang, Weiss was not surprised that Blake wanted to hide her Faunus identity, wanting to avoid the wrong sort of attention, only her membership of the White Fang meant questions had to be asked. How long had she been a part of the White Fang, after they turned violent? What had she done? Why did she truly leave? These questions needed answering, even if everyone else wanted to pretend that it didn't matter. _Well, I'm not going to stand around and make sure that we all stand at risk._

"Penny." She said, bringing everyone's attention away from their multiple conversations and towards the formerly-silent heiress.

"Yes, Weiss?" The girl asked, eager to help her friend in what she needed, an innocence that Weiss admitted to find rather endearing.

"Tell me the truth, can you honestly tell if someone is lying?" If that was her Semblance, it was certainly an impressive one, and Weiss needed to be absolutely sure, for the security of her mind.

"Yes, although I've been told that being so direct in stating whether someone is lying is not considered friendly." Penny said, before gasping and turning to Sun, with his silly tendency to show his bare chest to the world with that open shirt of his. "Oh, I would like to apologise to you, Sun. I am sorry for the treatment I gave you, it was simply part of the plan, going by the assumption of your presence signifying an intention to partake in Dust robbery."

"It's cool, just don't grab the tail." He said, before looking at a whistling Jaune. "And I'm cool with you too."

Yang seemed to know where this was going, her eyes far too tired to put up an actual fight. "Weiss, just drop i-"

"I want to know. We're going to find out whether we can trust Blake, now or when one of the staff arrives and I tell them about the potential terrorist in our school." Weiss said, knowing that Blake was always going to answer her question, only she wanted to ensure that her team didn't try and interrupt the questioning session.

"Just ask away, Weiss, whatever will make you trust me." Blake said, almost looking relieved at the idea of explaining her entire past to everyone.

"When did you leave the White Fang?" Weiss started, deciding to get the main questions out of the way.

"Three months before I joined Beacon, during the train heist." Blake seemed too young to be one of the White Fang's special soldiers, tasked with such missions, but that may have been how she was able to get into Beacon so easily.

"Why didn't you leave when they sanctioned butchery?" Weiss knew it wasn't the most neutral term, this was her family, however, and she had yet to find the person who could speak about their family without bias.

"It became my family, I didn't have parents and spent my life fighting for the cause. I justified it by reminding myself of the connection between them and the abuse directed at Faunus in company towns. That doing so would somehow balance things out."

Our lives are not a numbers game. A dark side of Weiss' mind said, the same side that wanted her to attack Blake the second she discovered her connection with the White Fang. She forced it down, Blake was being honest, judging from Penny's constant nods, and she deserved to say her piece.

"Why did you leave?"

"It was the train heist," Blake said, looking down on the crate. "My partner and friend and I were to destroy the train and take the Dust. I didn't know why, just that we were supposed to, and now I see why I was kept in the dark about our little hypocrisy. I had thought about leaving before, when people were being killed in front of their families, but I never found the guts to do so, until I heard the second part of our mission. We were to kill the crew as well, at which point I couldn't find it in myself to bend my sense of self any further, so I cut the train apart when I had the chance and left."

Penny nodded again, which left the last question that Weiss truly wanted to know, and perhaps the most important question for her.

"Do you regret joining the White Fang?" She asked, as gently as she could, as if coaxing the answer out of Blake.

"Never." Blake was done looking down on the ground, she spoke quietly and firmly. "We deserve equality and I'm not going to rest until we have it, the White Fang started out peacefully and I'll never regret doing my part for that cause, making people aware of what your father's company did to its Faunus workers, amongst other companies as well. What I regret is staying in when it became a distortion of everything I believed in, but I'm never going to denounce its original goals."

She expected that reply, she knew that her family's company was not the most...progressive towards the Faunus and that the days of her grandfather where they were the leaders in worker treatment were long gone. People tended to disapprove of hiring mobsters to break up union meetings, and establishing company towns, so resistance was expected nowadays. It was just when it came to the White Fang and those who backed them that Weiss favoured the hammer, rather than the hand.

"I lost nearly my entire family to the White Fang." She looked at the fearful expressions on her team's faces, along with the fear on everyone else's, as if her telling was already guaranteed. "So I'm not going to let them take my friends away either. I don't trust you, Blake Belladona, and I can't say I'm fully confident in what I'm about to say, but I'm not going to tell anyone about any of your secrets and I'm not going to stop being around you. You did help us stop the White Fang, and I think no one here can say they aren't committed to stopping whatever they're planning, so let's leave it at that."

Weiss would have said to anyone that she did not enjoy Ruby's demand for group hugs, which was why she wouldn't tell anyone that the one demanded by her for all five collaborators of Operation Beatdown Town was warmly received.

"Oh dear," Penny squeaked, from within the hug, looking at a direction that Ruby's cloak was now blocking. "I need to go, my father is here and I think he's worried about me."

"Can't you just take a picture with us?" Ruby asked, her eyes doing most of the pleading for her, Penny looking excited.

"Huh?" Pyrrha said, confused about the offer. "Ruby, I don't think-"

"I got the camera right here." Ruby replied, pulling said device from somewhere on her body and showing it to them all.

"Awesome job, sis." Yang said, giving the effort a thumbs-up of approval. "Okay, everyone quickly get into a group, Ruby, set the camera on that box and we can all try and fit into the picture." She instructed, everyone rushing to organise themselves properly.

Weiss found herself in the front row standing next to Ruby (in front of Yang and next to Penny) and Pyrrha, who found herself standing right beside Jaune who was beginning to mutter to himself about his hair looking terrible and whether he would blink at the light. "Oh crap, I never get a good picture." He said, trying to position his hair properly, even after the mess it was in after the battle.

"We all look terrible, Jaune, I'm sure you'll be fine." Weiss assured, leaving Jaune flabbergasted, before appearing eager at another sign of her forgiving him, which she basically had to after what he did for her and Ruby. _It'd be rather hypocritical of me to see him as selfish, after that little display._

"Say cheese!" Nora cried out.

"No." Weiss said, in contrast to everyone else doing so, only she still smiled with everyone else as the camera flashed and the picture came out, showing all ten of them together.

"Ah man, this is so cool." Sun said, grabbing it first and looking at it with amazement, having stood behind Penny.

"Oh, um, I really have to go now." Penny added, twiddling her fingers and shifting in one spot repeatedly, before breaking out into a run and waving goodbye to them all. "Farewell, friends." She said, her wave being met by everyone else's.

It was then that Weiss was hit by another hard-hitting matter that could not be ignored.

"So we're just going to ignore your many petty crimes?" She asked, not really bothered.

"Yeah, basically." Sun replied, leaving both of them to shrug their shoulders, having given up the photo for everyone else to comment on their position on the photo.

"Hey, that hot girl over there almost reminds me of someone." Nora said, pointing at a blonde woman with glasses in the distance of the photo, Weiss being reminded of someone.

Yang popped over her shoulder and pointed at the figure as well. "Oh yeah, that little cutie almost looks like-"

"Professor Goodwitch!" Weiss might as well have screamed, looking to see said figure marching towards the group, as Sun seemed to mysteriously disappear from the group in favour of not being subjected to her wrath. A smart move that Weiss had no chance of copying.

Goodwitch gave all of them a stern look, with only the slightest blush showing that she had heard their comments. "Ms Rose, is it possible for you to do something outside of class that doesn't entail someone being injured dramatically?"

"No?" Ruby asked, giving a little smile that would literally work on anyone who was not Professor Goodwitch.

Weiss had realised that Ruby's little joke was not going to save them from Goodwitch's wrath, especially after Nora and Yang's little commentary. _So this is how it ends, R.I.P Weiss Schnee, Death by Goodwitch. _

And she had just gotten adjusted to being a morning person.

* * *

Roman really missed Neo during these times.

She could get a bit teasing and demand payment in monetary and candied goods, but at least she could get a good stitching done in no time and with as little pain as possible, in contrast to the dog-eared piece of crap who was frightened of even the slightest hint of blood, who basically fucked-up the whole thing. Now he was stuck in his base and was left to wonder what was going to happen next, when he heard the sound of a book being closed with more than a bit of force.

"You look like Grade-A dogshit, dude." Mercury said, holding some book Roman stole in his hand, pointing at the open wound. "And that's coming from the guy who doesn't mind you that much."

"Oh joy, she sent her little boy around to scout out. You better scram, kid, I'm not in the mood." Torchwick muttered, hoping that the wound didn't scar, and also praying to whoever was up in the clouds to make Mercury fuck the fuck off. The kid lacked Emerald's petty jealously of anyone who Cinder looked at for longer than five seconds, and made up for it in his attempts at being funny.

"Come on, Cinder's just curious about what happened. I mean, we have plausible deniability, but we can't have you become a liability now, can we?" Mercury almost sang those words, the threat clear as day to Roman.

"Relax, the animals didn't know anything about the plan at all." He replied, waving off the concerns, before turning from his chair to look at Cinder's henchman face to face. "Mind you, I might be able to make better judgements in the future, if I did know what the plan was." Roman recommended, starting to share Neo's annoyance with how little the people on the frontline were being kept out of the loop.

"You'll know when you need to know." The voice that Roman did not fear replied, Cinder stalking into Roman's little fortress without a care in the world, her little glass heels filled the place with noise.

The place had a strange habit of increasing in temperature when Cinder came into the room, taking a fair while for Roman to notice after their 'partnership' had been made, and after he invested in a thermometer. All but tied to Cinder's side was Emerald, someone without Mercury's occasional funny joke or sense of self-awareness and made up for it in being Cinder's bitch through and through, meaning that she hated anyone who even talked back to Cinder.

Roman didn't know why she was so bothered about it, it wasn't as if Roman had any intention of going further. When someone like Neo was off-put by someone, that meant that that person was someone to either get away from, or work with very closely, and even Roman Torchwick would admit to being a bit unsettled by Cinder sometimes. _Considering what she did to poor old Shane, that makes me anything but a pussy._

"Do you have any X-Ray and Vav? I'm kind of dying of boredom." Mercury asked, before slamming another book shut, almost turning it into a rhythm and taking out the last of Roman's patience with him. "Nothing here but dusty old snooze-fests." He added, before doing the exact same thing again, Emerald almost smiling at how it bothered Roman.

"I'm sorry, those books are for those who've able to read for longer than three years, so I can see why they might not be your thing." He said, smiling at the raw nerve he stabbed at, and at how it stopped Mercury from slamming yet another book.

Instead, it dropped to the ground and led to Mercury glaring daggers at Roman, making the criminal almost think that he was about to try and attack him, Emerald had gone from smug to infuriated as well. Seeing such faces on the youth of today were really what it was all about for him, deciding to tell Neo about this later, she always loved hearing about Mercury's little problem with words.

Emerald stepped forward, all but ready to fight him over his comments. "Way over the line, Ro-"

"Now, now, I'm sure Roman didn't mean it. He's just grumpy that someone who faked their way into Beacon managed to trick him." Cinder said, a raised hand from her more than enough to calm Emerald and get Mercury laughing again, the way that those kids were so dependent on Cinder made him sick.

The bit about the kid faking his way in was interesting, even if it only made it more important that he set the record straight.

"Please, he'd be dead if it wasn't for his Semblance." Roman argued, defending his record while enjoying that brief flicker of interest from the true head of all this. "Yeah, now you're all interested in me. I figured out that Pyrrha Nikos, she who is flawless, has one as well."

"Do explain." Cinder asked, as if there was equality between the two of them

"The kid is related to the de Rais, first, so feel free to look him up from there, secondly, he managed to withstand two of my rounds. One hit his armour, but the other one met with cloth, there's no other way he could have survived it." Roman made a mental vow to get back at that kid for making him look like an idiot. "Pyrrha Nikos, on the other hand, is a bit more subtle with hers. She managed to do a few too many perfect hits with her sword and shield, and those Faunus missed a few too many times for it to be a coincidence. You can ask the guys who ran, if you don't believe me."

"We did, they proved very revealing." Emerald said, revealing how she knew about that fight. "It only affected metal, so we're assuming polarity."

"The power to make fate appear her servant, and this boy seems to have some sort of invisible armour." Cinder observed, in her little habit of adding flowery language to certain stuff every now and then. "We'll have to add them to the list." She commanded, Roman having no idea what this 'list' was even supposed to be.

"Got it," Emerald said, before looking up to Cinder, joy sparkling in her eyes. "They're on the same team as the Schnee girl, by the way. I'm thinking we put the whole team on the list." She didn't even need to ask, she knew the answer already.

He almost felt sorry for the ten most wounded of those White Fang grunts, left behind for 'additional medical check-ups' by their commanders, only to be left for questioning by psycho-chicks like Cinder and Emerald. The prospect of adding four people to the ominous list seemed to fill all three of Cinder's little crew with flee, whether it was Red, Wonder-Girl, Shithead or the Schnee heiress, as they skulked back to wherever they went after bothering him.

The room was his again, and a text from Neo said that she'd be arriving in five, as he already figured that disposing the corpses of those ten supposed loose-ends was going to be his job.

Roman was a tricky bastard. He had backstabbed, threatened, robbed, killed and abused many innocent lives, along with being the victim of backstabbing himself from a fair few smart guys, which stopped after he broke out of jail and took revenge, so everyone he knew recognised him to be a very efficient thief and killer who should always be kept an eye on.

So it meant something when Cinder Fall scared the fuck out of him.


	9. Preparing the Next Play

**Alright, new chapters may take a bit longer than they used, the first part of Part II being no exception. Until then, here's a sort-of-trailer I did for it, now that I've got an idea of what I'm doing in my head, although some of these lines may not make it to the final product. Either way, have fun, since this 'trailer' is mostly comedic.**

* * *

**What makes a Huntsman? What components go into a Huntress? Such questions were once the fancy of the time, the attributes of those who defended humanity was seen as a science, finding the right traits and installing them into the youth could only be beneficial. Such time had passed, and now it accepted that only through their own efforts can trainees become the ideal humanity yearns for, to force it would be to invite tyranny across the globe.**

**Yet in these times, there are certain things all must take into account. A time of women who wish to set the world alight, men who disagree on the benefits of action and caution, of misguided ideals and broken hopes, a false peace that shall break and herald a new dawn, and of simple souls. Seven things shall be a part of the game that shall be played, where lives instead of chess pieces shall be the cost of a single mistake, and these seven must be remembered, if the heroes of tomorrow hope to survive.**

**Danger**

"Okay guys," Cardin barked to his team, cutting through the panic. "In case you haven't noticed, unless we get some help, we're fucked. The rabbit's team is going to kill us, the upper-years are gonna cheer them on, and we don't have shit to use against them. So anyone got any bright ideas?"

"If Penny ends up in a state where she becomes more of a threat than help, then I fear we'll be in the Scheent." Frost glared more, which only confused James even more, already taken aback by what he just heard. "That was a joke, General Ironwood."

"Really? Cinder might betray us?" A look of horror was present, directed right at the monitor. "Next you'll be telling me that the dirt doesn't taste like chocolate, or that Neo can't get a drink anywhere." The scowl from behind was worth it, for Roman.

"If that hole ain't sealed up quick," Another drag on his cigarette cut his words off, already hard to hear under the choir of sirens, screams and roars. "We can kiss goodbye to Vale."

**Family**

"Hey Yang," A fearful voice cried out, belonging to one Taiyang Xiao Long. "Why is Ruby telling me that you're seeing boys without their shirts on!"

"Nora," A ginger-haired man, with a twinkle in his emerald eyes, said to the young girl sat on his knee. "Daddy's work is perfectly legal. It's just that, sometimes, he does action which are within the law, but can be called illegal when placed in a certain combination. Now who wants pancakes?"

"That is true, girls do tend to react negatively to being punched in the face." Joan replied, giving Jaune absolutely no help in his search for courting advice.

"Hello, Winter." Weiss greeted her sister with the most authentic smile possible. "Is the weather in Atlas not disruptive for your health?"

**Friendship**

"What if I lose Weiss again?" Ruby showed her ring to Cinder, trying to get the Haven student to see the depths of the issue. "She and I got these rings after the fight in the docks, to symbolise us being BFFs. Now she's going to throw it all away to hang out with Neptune. Just because he's so 'cool' and stuff."

"I'm not just a pancake bitch, am I?" Ren asked, unsure of the answer himself. Did people really think that was all he was for Nora? Was that what she thought?

"Mercury, no one is going to judge you." Pyrrha said gently, taking a hand to his shoulder, feeling how tense it was. "If you don't try, they've won."

"Perry, I used to think you Faunus were just the result of a bit of bestiality that took." Roman said, wrapping his arm around the masked guy. "Now I know that some of you are actually tolerable."

**The Past**

"Some things are better left unsaid, Taiyang. Let those who know what they are searching for find it." Ozpin hated how even a single reminder brought him back to those days. Where you were called by number, and expected to become a machine of killing, a Grimm in human form.

"I was quite the looker back then." Port beamed with pride, leaving Yang to wonder what happened to him, while also repressing fantasies of her and a young Port. Nora and Pyrrha looked to be doing the same.

"Weiss, the thing about men like Jaune is," Glynda had to do this. She couldn't allow a student, however he came to become one, to turn into another James when it came to these things. "You need to direct them away. Otherwise they turn into making everything about the size of their-"

**The Present**

"Look, Neptune, sure some of them almost tore my tail off, encouraged others to do so, based my personality on a few seconds, and put me in a deathhold when I tried to save someone, but they're really cool." Sun realised that he was losing Neptune. "Me and the guy who grabbed my tail even tried a few peppers."

"No, I get it. You love them, but you know they're doing things wrong." Emerald replied, Weiss thankful that someone could understand her. "I know how it can be, with someone like your sister too. You don't want to be reminded of how fragile hope can be. Just keep at it, I'm sure it won't matter for you soon enough." The smile she gave was more than enough comfort.

"Is this my life now?" Cardin asked no one, merely gazing into the setting sun. "Getting ready to get the crap beaten out of me, apparently bullying the most beloved person in Beacon, and now I have this to scar my mind. Yang, you do get that now we're even."

**Fear**

"Am I truly your friend?" Penny asked, Ruby wondering what could make her hesitate like this. Maybe it was Weiss' natural grumpiness, judging from the aggressive panting next to her."

"Blake, if you keep this up, you're going to die." Ren added, standing alongside Yang. "Forcing yourself up on all hours, not even doing anything? That's a gift to Torchwick!"

"Pl-Please." He spoke, shuffling backwards, trying to stop the threat moving towards him. "Don't kill me!"

**Zwei**

"You're so cute, yes you are." Weiss cooed, Ruby beginning to wonder when it could be her turn to play with her dog.

"Here's your genetically-modified corgi." Schnee said, holding the dog out to Qrow, treating him as if he were a ticking time-bomb. "Now please take him before he goes poopy all over my nice new office. I don't want the girls to smell crap on 'Bring Your Children To Work Day' again."

"I think the dog might be onto us." Cinder admitted to herself, seeing the normally-happy canine mark his territory all over her bed.

**All are pieces on a board, waiting to be arranged.**

* * *

Not entirely serious, and sorry for those hoping for a new chapter, but I want to keep my gut-punchers for the right time, and I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that this will be coming soon. University is just a bit of a task when it comes to finding time for this, however I will see this fic finished!


	10. Of Things To Come

**Alright, been a long time since I came back to this, and I can't promise that interludes between updates won't vary often if things get a bit crazy IRL, however I can say that Part II of Rearranging the Board starts now. This will mostly cover Volume II of RWBY, but there will naturally be differences, and some parts will be expanded while others are shortened compared to canon, and some of the world-building I use may be contradicted by later canon. That being said, that's a risk I just have to take, so Volume III's probable revelation that Weiss has an evil twin brother will not be seen here.**

**Now that that's over with, on with the show.**

* * *

Ruby Rose couldn't help but wonder if someone did something wrong.

"A Grimm Childhood! Or Why Baby Grimm Are Just As Dangerous, Part 3!"

She didn't know if this was something that a second or third year did, or if this was something that all first years had to go through, but she was not happy about having to stick through some hour-long movie. Not to mention one about Grimm, yet managed to have no cool fight scenes, and was just about why you don't adopt the babies of the ones you kill. It was super-lame, in her mind.

Professor Port had somehow managed to avoid a lecture about his exploits with the Grimm, which only ever captivated Weiss for reasons unknown, and was instead adding his own commentary about how he killed an Ursa Major in the very forest they were seeing, and how he basically killed everything in the entire world at least once. Ruby personally wondered how he got their heads all across the room, but it was better to not ask.

At least, that was what Weiss told her when she wanted to ask.

Weiss had begun panicking a lot, ever since the fight at the docks, and for a fair few reasons. One of them was that she wanted them to be ready for the Vytal Tournament, which Ruby could completely get behind, and the other was that she didn't want her dad to hear about the fight in the docks, which Ruby couldn't understand. Yeah, Goodwitch covered up their involvement, apparently for security reasons, but why would she be worried about her family finding out?

Maybe they were over-protective? Ruby knew that Dad would have panicked, if he heard about her fight with CRDL, or about her fighting a whole army of terrorists, so maybe it was the same with Weiss' dad, only a more grumpy version of the same conversation.

"This is the most boring thing ever." A very grumpy male voice declared, resting his head on his hand.

Ruby did wonder about the wisdom of having a 'leader's group', when it came to this lecture, seeing as Cardin and Ruby didn't exactly have the most peaceful of histories, and Blake wasn't the most fond of the guy. That said, the sheer boringness of the lecture did manage to calm any tensions they had, and the fourth guy whose name was unknown didn't try to make conversation. So the four of them managed to form a great example for their teammates, if that was the plan.

That said, Blake did manage to give Cardin a few vicious glares, and a brief look around suggested that Jaune was the only one to not be giving a member of CRDL the dirty eye, out of the JWPR/BRNY friendship circle. Yang was making up for it, which seemed to scare Russell to his seat, and it did provide a mean sort of entertainment during the super-boring video, which didn't even make sense.

"We only have fifteen minutes, we can make it." Ruby said, deciding to be the mature and cool one and bring comfort to the team. Cardin seemed to back down, owing to the power of awkwardness around the two.

The PSA went on, lecturing them further about the obvious. "Grimmspawn, and we're not talking about the F-" The video was cut off, before it went on a weird rant, by Professor Port, who was now fiddling with the remote to try and skip the rant.

"Oh dear. It seems that the trend of our past being...less than delicate has popped up again." Professor Port did manage to skip the parts of the video, made during that time where colour in film was banned, which were a bit mean to the Faunus. "Here. Just ignore those five seconds." He instructed, after he seemed to look to check if any of the Faunus students were upset.

Blake's right eye twitched, and Cardin seemed to learn that laughing at old-timey racism put nails on his coffin, so Ruby was left to see a once-baby Ursa grow up and somehow devour the supposedly trained-Huntress, who was screaming and crying. Ruby wondered why the 'Huntress' didn't just use her Aura against the thing, or why she spent ten seconds cooing at it when it was baring its teeth, and why 'feminine instincts' made her worse than the Huntsman who ran off with someone else, bringing on the crying fit that attracted their adopted Grimm.

The main plot, if it could be called that, of this PSA was that two graduates from a school like Beacon slew a pack of Grimm (which, because it would have looked cool, wasn't shown) and were going to leave. Then they heard the cries of baby animals dressed-up as Grimm and found the 'Grimmspawn', which were cute and innocent enough for them to try and adopt like regular pets. Even Ruby, just from the title, could guess that things would go wrong.

First, the Grimm needed negativity, so the Huntsman and Huntress went around and caused bad things so that their little pets wouldn't die, which made them happy and made things bad for the Grimm again. Then they got into a cycle of doing bad stuff, needing to do more, and then doing more, while the breed of the animals being dressed up changed every five shots. Ruby wondered if the short was made for younger combat school students. _No, that's mean. They're your age, and you're nowhere near that silly to trust this._

The video went on to describe the Grimm growing from killing the Huntress, and then massacring the settlement that the two were supposed to protect, causing fire and death and weeping all around. It might have been moving, were it not just people in poorly-made costumes, and even Professor Port looked as if the whole thing was a load of poop. If it did one thing right, it managed to bring everyone in the room together to applaud at its ending, although only Ruby seemed to notice that Professor Port looked confused by their reaction.

"I'm glad to see that you enjoyed it. Now then, you'll be answering some questions on the sheet, and then that'll be it for today's voluntary lecture." The temperature of the room dropped, as it was then flooded with murmurs of questions, all surrounding the topic of what he was talking about.

"I was wondering why we were being called in on semester break." Blake said, airing her thoughts out load. "Didn't really cut into our day that much." She pointed out, which Ruby did nod to, unable to think of something else she had planned today.

Cardin seemed to disagree, putting up his hand and standing up. "I was promised that the air-conditioning in my team's room would be fixed, how are we on that?" He said, a problem which echoed in Ruby's mind for some reason. "Part Two of that film had a guy trying to nurse a baby Beowolf, we deserve something."

"Oh, Mr Winchester, that's an entirely different matter." Port merrily said, waving off Cardin's objections with ease, before he motioned for them to fill out the quiz on what they learnt.

"This is bullshit." Cardin murmured as he sat down, Ruby wondering what exactly he expected. "Gonna draw dicks everywhere." He said, picking up his pen and preparing to use it where he should be writing about what he learnt.

"Cardin, no!" Ruby shouted with a whisper, panic in her eyes. "We'll all get into trouble." She had the feeling that meetings with Professor Goodwitch were not meant to be a regular thing, outside class.

"You owe her, remember." Blake warned, looking Cardin right in the eye, a three-second stand-off before he stood down.

"I'd like to point out that I was in the infirmary for longer, and was repeatedly threatened while there." He grunted, his paper free of any wing-wang drawings.

"Yeah, you might as well let him have this one. He won't be around for much longer." The fourth, and more silent, member of the leader group suggested. Ruby was so taken aback by him speaking, that she didn't pay much attention to what he was actually saying.

"Look," Blake's rant was immediately ruined by her not knowing who the guy was either. "You." She finished, a poor result.

"We don't socialise much, do we?" Ruby admitted, looking downward. They had been around for a semester and she probably only knew the names of less than twenty people in her year, just like back in Signal.

"Everyone has their own little groups, they go places, they know each other's names, and those groups even have their own fights, without anyone knowing." Blake was trying to be comforting, only her comments about fights made things a bit tense again. She held up her hands, eyes widening. "I didn't mean-"

"I'm still sorry about the whole 'was going to freeze you and throw you in jail' thing. Bit of a mistake on my part." Ruby admitted, rubbing the back of her head with her hand, trying to laugh off the whole thing.

Blake had managed to forgive and forget the whole ordeal, especially after Weiss made strides in working out her own prejudice against the Faunus, however sub-conscious, but Ruby was still sort-of upset with herself. It was just how quickly she moved to turn on Blake, from a moment's suspicion, even if she wasn't the only one. Nora and Ren moved to attack Ruby and Weiss so quickly as well, there were plenty of red faces all around, after it all ended.

Which explained why they just didn't talk about it. It made things a lot easier for everyone.

"Wait what?" A whispered tone of amazement cut through, Ruby and Blake having forgotten about the fourth guy. In their defence, he didn't seem the type to leave that much of an impact on people. "What the he-"

"Screw that, who gives a crap? What're you talking about?" Cardin harshly replied, looking at the other team leader firmly, as the guy tried to ignore him. "Don't try and hide it, you just said that I was gonna die."

"Well, there's a certain team who really didn't take kindly to what you used to do." He said, apparently enjoying this little game of riddles. Blake seemed to catch on first, and was slyly smiling with glee.

"Mind being a little less vague? This is the most interesting thing to happen all week, tell me more." Cardin demanded, motioning his fist, which did scare the guy into some more details.

"Look, do you remember the cafeteria, the stuff you pulled?" He asked, Ruby instantly recalling a few instances of CRDL bullying Jaune, Velvet, and a few others who didn't look like they could defend themselves. The memory reminded Ruby of why she shouldn't feel sorry for them, after Yang's threat made them into less bullies and more jerks who no one liked.

"No." Cardin replied, no sense of lying on his face.

Blake took a fair amount of offence to that. "You tormented Velvet because of her ears, until Yang threatened to-"

"Punch our faces in if we did it again," Cardin recited, not even looking bothered, making Ruby a bit upset. "Why does that matter?" He asked, which only made Blake even more mad.

"Ignoring that comment, her team probably isn't all that happy about that." She pointed out, causing the lightbulb in Ruby's head to go into overdrive.

"Oh yeah, Team CFVY." She said, recalling the team and how grateful they were about what Teams Jasper and Burgundy did for the rabbit Faunus, and their combat ability. "You're dead." Ruby decided, noticing that the right answer to the quiz questions were all no.

"Who?" Cardin seemed to get that he was going nowhere, so he went back to Cappy, the name Ruby gave to the mysterious person they never met before. "Mind filling me in?" He asked, although the answer wasn't going to be of much help.

"Team CFVY are the most popular people here. They'd be in our year, if they were born a week earlier, but they were almost promoted to third years because of their ability in combat, each one has their own fanclub in both upper-years. All of who basically hate you, and the rest of your team." Cappy recited, which seemed to confuse and worry Cardin.

"She's a second year? What was she doing in the dining hall, and that History class with Oobleck? There was no evidence that she was an upper-year." He ranted, although a quick look-around by Ruby allowed her to see that Sky Lark was looking worried as well, and not just because of Weiss' icy stare. That, and the leader's group were beginning to attract some stares.

"Getting food?" Ruby tried to joke, only Cardin gave her a flat look, knowing that the slightest glare would have him be jumped by Pyrrha and Weiss. "She has different timetables to her team, so she has History and lunch at different times. It's why they didn't get promoted, their schoolwork wasn't good enough."

"So now, the second and third years hate you for being cruel." Blake said, the limited size of her smile not really hiding the plain joy on her face. "Today actually seems rather nice." She said, turning to the sunlight coming through the window.

Cardin didn't seem to appreciate that, if his impersonation was anything to go by. "'Look at me, I'm Blake. I'm quiet and read books, so I can be a bitch when I want.'" Neither Ruby nor Blake's angry look seemed to deter him. "For being the President of the Velvet Fan Club-"

"That position's taken." Cappy said, only to be shut down.

"-Was I talking to you? For being in so love with her, you didn't seem to do crap, beyond inviting her to your lunch table." Cardin's words did make Blake flinch, but Ruby's inspiring defence of her friend was cut off by Cappy himself.

"Oh no, the upper years aren't fond of us either. We didn't do crap for her, so only JWPR and BRNY are still liked." He explained, before looking at his hands and smiling for some reason. "Does anyone else feel more colourful today."

"Leader's group?" Port asked, somewhat out of concern, and somewhat to scold. All four look to see the bushy-moustached man looking right at them, along with the rest of the class. "I fear your chatter is not setting the best of examples, unless you've already finished the question paper."

"Yeah, we were stuck on whether or not to make out with an Ursa, but then we decided on no." Cardin replied, his anger taking hold of his judgement, before Ruby could try and stop him.

"Oh, well in that case, you may leave." Professor Port said, leaving the four of them in a state of confusion. "There's nothing else for me to teach you today."

With those words, there was a flood of students, formerly just whispering and writing out joke-answers, all actually just ticking the no boxes and rushing to place them into Professor Port's desk, Ruby personally leading the leader's group in getting there first. Upon saving them from being crushed, Ruby then searched for her own team amongst those fleeing the room, as Port cheerily talked about the energy of youth, to little avail.

That was when Ruby saw the light in the distance, Weiss was being held up by Pyrrha and Jaune, both with red faces, and was using the ring Ruby got for her a light source. Seeing this, Ruby herself jumped and showed her own ring to signal where she was, forcing her way forward, seeing Blake meet up with Yang, Ren and Nora and felt inspired to move forward once more.

_Now for some actual fun._ She declared to herself, with a firm look of boldness, moving forward with a strength she thought she lacked, when with this many people. _Only two days until classes actually start and I wanna make them count as the best ones possible._

"Wait, Ruby." Cardin cried out, the rest of CRDL right behind him, as the four of them had a look of absolute fear in their eyes. "You have to help us, you can't let us die! We've shed blood together." Cardin pointed out, looking pitiful enough that Ruby almost considered it, recalling how he did get her those cool X-Ray and Vav toys as an apology gift.

On the other hand, they did need to learn a lesson about being jerkfaces to others as well.

"We were fighting each other!" Ruby shouted out, before Dove's sad face reminded her of Zwei without treats and she felt compelled to give some advice to them. "I'm sure it'll all work out, just tell her that you're sorry. Velvet might help you out then, if you make amends."

Rushing forward, and leaving a pleading CRDL behind, she met with the rest of her team, and BRNY, and the eight of them began to walk from the classroom. "What was that all about?" Jaune asked, his curiosity clear. "They seemed scared, and not of Yang." Yang smiled in pride of those words.

"I think they're going to have their legs broken." Ruby admitted, not wanting to be around for when Coco got revenge for Velvet.

"And nothing of value will be lost." Weiss said, in a completely deadpan tone, as Pyrrha nodded to those words.

"You can say that again, Ice Queen." Nora said, the excitable girl whose confidence outside their circle something Ruby was sort of jealous of. With friends, she could relax and be who she wanted, but in a crowd of strangers she tended to worry about if she rambled too much or if she was weird and the like. Nora was just Nora, which she always admired.

"Or _Ice Cream_." Yang suggested, a sinister smile on her face.

With a high-five between Yang and Nora, the look on Ruby's partner only suggested revenge. "Someday, Yang, karmic justice will get to you."

"Yeah, sure. And then I'll beaten up by a midget." Yang replied, rolling her eyes at the thought.

That managed to get everyone laughing, bringing a good mood to what was a pretty boring early afternoon. The eight of them split into two groups, mostly because BRNY were going down to visit Sun, and JWPR had to go finish off some things before they could head over for an evening of fun and games, and all sorts of inter-team bonding. Sun's team were going to reach Vale tomorrow, which only made things even more exciting.

"Now then, that may have been a waste of time, but we need to practice." Pyrrha suggested, the thought of it making Ruby groan in agony. "Come on, you actually did pretty well." She encouraged, which only made Ruby shuffle into herself further, recalling how the first few tries had her stumbling with each step.

"Can't we do it later?" She asked, wondering why dancing why so tricky, when compared with using Crescent Rose to purge her enemies from the world.

"Yeah sure, the dance isn't for a long time." Jaune said, before he looked into the silver eyes of his leader with determination and strength. "We will get you to dance in heels, Ruby Rose, I swear it on my honour as an Arc."

_Lousy lady-stilts._ Ruby puffed out her cheeks and almost grumbled, before her mind sorted itself out again. _Okay, Ruby, calm down. You can still make tomorrow the best day ever! I can just borrow Weiss' binder, get some super-fun activities planned, and it'll be great! The only thing missing from all this would probably be-_

* * *

"Zwei!" Taiyang merrily cried out, holding the canine for both Glynda and Ozpin to see.

Glynda knew that the short and messy blonde hair, when added with vibrant blue eyes and a stubble of what looked to be a beard, differentiated Taiyang from his youngest daughter, but the same happy expression and sheer glee in the tone of voice showed where Ruby inherited those characteristics from. It was a small miracle, for her sanity, that the young Huntress-in-training had also inherited her mother's sense of self-awareness, which Taiyang tended to lack at times.

This had originally meant that the first few days would have nervous calls about what the boys in his daughter's teams were like, whether they were the type to seduce women, and if his girls were falling for 'their masculine trickery'. There were concerned parents, in all years, the more legitimate sources being Faunus who feared harassment against their children, those from families with less than stellar reputations, and those who were afraid of whether their children were fitting in.

More annoying calls came from high-ups who assumed that their social status meant their children would gain special treatment, or didn't react well to hearing of a Faunus in their team (in defence of the children, knowledge of the reaction was more prone to cause embarrassment), and those who adopted the aircraft approach to parenting. Being told about how, despite succeeding in doing so for many years before, the Beacon staff made the wrong call did get annoying, especially when Glynda herself had to field such calls herself.

Taiyang managed to calm himself down, and was one of the many who trusted Ozpin's judgement in such matters, which was a fair relief for herself. That being said, at times she did wonder if she did the right thing in not telling him about the rooftop incident, before deciding that she would leave the decision to Ruby herself.

A decision that looked to be firmly vindicated, with the proposal just given to them.

"You do realise that we have a strict policy on pets?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and wondering if this was another one of Taiyang's silly schemes to check on the lives of his two daughters.

"Well yeah, but Zwei's not like other dogs. He's a super-dog!" Zwei barked at that, looking happy to be noticed, in what was supposed to be another mission briefing.

Ozpin chose to take over questioning, somehow managing to appear calm, despite the insanity of the request. "How would you be sending him over? The mission we're assigning you takes you a fair distance from Beacon." He inquired, taking a sip from his coffee mug.

In response, as if it was somehow supposed to reduce their concerns, Taiyang pulled out a mailing tube container, used to store letters and small trinkets and placed it in front of his Scroll. Glynda was confused, until it was joined by horror, as Taiyang placed Zwei on top of the container and made a pushing down motion, somehow suggesting that they put the dog in the too-small container and then send him from Patch to Beacon.

"That is animal cruelty, and will probably result in some form of legal action, if you're caught." Glynda pointed out, ignoring the look of heartbreak on Xiao Long's face.

"Y-Bu-Gl-No one has to know!" He said, stumbling through his words, apparently not expecting resistance to his insane plan. "He's a super-dog, designed to survive such conditions, he's fitted in this loads of times." He argued, the dog somehow understanding his words and nodding in support.

"That solves none of my worries." Glynda pointed out, and decided to not point out that Taiyang didn't even try to deny it being against the school rules.

"Glynda, I'm sure that Taiyang knows what he is doing," Ozpin cut in, before speaking to Taiyang as if he were Ruby, gently and trying to coax an answer out of them. "Having said that, shouldn't Qrow look after him, or one of the other Signal teachers?" He asked, which seemed to make him uncomfortable.

"Qrow's going to forget to feed him, if he even gets back in time, and the other teachers just don't understand him." He mumbled, holding Zwei closer to his body, before speaking up again. "He needs his special dog food." He whined, which made Ozpin pause, forcing Glynda to move in before he could be budged.

"Which daughter would he even go to?" She asked. There were two teams, one with Ruby and the other Yang, and she couldn't help but wonder how exactly Taiyang supposed to send out his pet, and which one he decided was the more responsible of the two.

"Ruby." He replied, not even stuttering in his decision, as he snuggled Zwei against his shirt. "I'm sure my little rosebud is still trying to make friends, and Zwei might help in winning over some of them. She and the Schnee girl can bond over their shared experience."

"What shared experience? All that happened was that we asked her father to genetically modify a puppy, because you were paranoid." Glynda snapped, feeling her eye twitch in the way that members of the Xiao Long/Rose family were able to make it.

Asking the head of the SDC to assist in the experimentation of a dog, to create a companion for the family, after Summer's death, was a difficult task. Not only did the dog have to be a puppy, but they needed to get it right the first time, and there had to be no risk of death or mortal harm to the dog, which made it a near-impossible task, even with Ironwood's lobbying. It took a call from Ozpin himself to get some traction going.

The conditions were tough. The SDC had been wanting some of the technology that the combat schools kept to themselves, to compare and contrast with their own, and this had always been refused, as had requests for greater involvement in Atlesian combat schools. In the end, Ozpin agreed to allow the latter, and try to do something on the former, which convinced Frost Schnee to work on the project with personal supervision.

Thus, Zwei was born into the world as a 'super-dog'.

_"Here's your genetically-modified corgi. Resistant to high pressures, heightened intelligence, great physical strength, resistance to extreme temperatures, and an expanded lifespan." Frost Schnee said, holding the dog out to Qrow, treating the dog as if it were a ticking time-bomb. "Now please take him before he goes poopy all over my nice new office. I don't want the girls to smell crap on 'Bring Your Children To Work Day' again."_

Fun times.

It was worth it, however, that much she would admit. She hadn't known Taiyang well, yet she could recognise that something broke in him when Summer died, and the companionship of the dog did do wonders in getting him back on his feet and bonding with his daughters again. Her death had brought a dark cloud over many of those within Ozpin's circles, and Taiyang's recovery to his normal self helped bring light back in.

That said, there was no reason that he couldn't just ask a Signal teacher to look after his own dog.

"Taiyang, I can understand that you feel that Zwei, who I must against insist has his name pronounced wrong, should be with one of your daughters. I must, however, argue that he should remain at Patch with a Signal teacher taking care of him." Glynda said, taking up a gentle tone, feeling pangs of regret as she saw how crushed Taiyang was with that answer.

"I must concur with Glynda." Ozpin added, taking another sip of coffee. "You haven't offered much reason for us to suspend the rules, even unofficially, and I can once again insist that Ruby has adapted well enough into Beacon."

Glynda agreed with Ozpin. Yes, there was the rooftop incident with Team CRDL that she chose to not bring up, and there was Blake admitting under questioning that Ruby and Weiss had threatened harm towards her during a mid-battle interrogation, but nothing like Taiyang's earlier messages feared. Ruby had formed a close circle of friends, and Glynda was wondering whether her father was doing this for her, or because he wanted to feel like he was with her somehow.

It could be argued that a fight and threatening to harm a supposed-friend merited intervention, but Glynda's point still stood.

"B-But..." Taiyang said, his face downcast, while Zwei was looking miserable as well. That was when the both of them looked up with the closest imitation to a sad puppy that Glynda had ever seen. "He should be with family." He said, voice almost breaking and tears heading to his eyes, accompanied by a whine from the dog in his hands.

Under the force of the two giving the most pitiful look they could, both dog and master near-tears, Glynda could see resistance to Taiyang's little scheme breaking apart, Ozpin was always suggestible towards appeals to the heart, and he looked somewhat ashamed to be drinking his coffee whilst under the glare of the stare. It was clear that he would allow the two to have their way, and only Glynda stood between order and chaos.

Or she was trying to prevent her allergy to dogs from acting up, but that wasn't as heroic.

She stood firm, kept her face neutral, and spoke clearly. "Taiyang, if you believe that a pitiful stare will shift our view, then I must disappoint you with the fact th-"

"Look into these eyes and say he shouldn't see Ruby and Yang." Taiyang pleaded, the two focusing their attention onto her, the force of their faces smashing onto her mental walls of resistance.

Ruby Rose clearly got that face from her father, Summer was not this quick to look sad to get her way, and Yang looked too adult and had her mother's tendency to care little for the opinion of others she didn't hold dear. Yang trying such a face would only look false, while the younger sister mimicked her father in how child-like they could seem, with the only difference being that Ruby did it without knowing. Glynda was sure now that this was how Taiyang convinced Raven to go to the Vytal Dance with him, all those years ago.

_Resist! You've managed to fend off Ironwood's 'compliments' for decades, you can withstand a man and a dog._ Glynda ordered herself, going back to decades of training and expertise. _You are a trained Huntress, many young girls enter this life to emulate you! Stay strong, keep fighting!_

In the end, unfortunately, not even Glynda Goodwitch could resist the force of Taiyang and Zwei's stare, forcing her to concede to the former's demands. "The transfer never happens." She would not allow her defeat to be known in Beacon's records.

"Yay!" Taiyang shouted, throwing Zwei in the air, who barked happily at the news. Catching his dog, he began to twirl the corgi in his arms around and around, leading to dog spit splattering against the screen which they communicated with. "Okay, I just need to put the food in for him, and you can see our favourite two girls again!"

"It's for the best." Ozpin assured, looking to Glynda through his glasses, his silver hair just stopping at the eyebrows.

"Let's not pretend we didn't crumble in seconds." Glynda replied, not in the mood to provide an excuse for their inability to stand up to a simple sad stare from Taiyang Xiao Long.

That didn't seem to stop the headmaster of Beacon, however, as he instead went further in trying to make her feel better. "Look on the bright side, at least he won't be with Ms Xiao Long and Ms Valkyrie. Adding on Blake's...likely attitude towards dogs, it'd be for the best that we let Lie Ren have a rest from controlling tho-"

"What?" A mortified voice asked, dog-twirling having stopped immediately after hearing the words 'Lie Ren'. It was clear what was about to happen, and neither Ozpin nor Glynda were happy with what was to come.

"Why did you say that?" She asked, dreading the panic that Taiyang was about to get himself involved in.

"Why do I open my mouth, when it only causes trouble?" Ozpin asked himself, resting his head on the palm of his hand, coffee mug on the other.

"Um, why would this 'Lie Ren' need to control Yang? Or these other two girls?" Taiyang asked, his face narrowed in suspicion, looking at the two Beacon teachers as if they were supposed to know something. His face blanched, and he turned his dog to look at it straight in the eye, his voice wobbling as he spoke. "Oh my god, Zwei, it's happened."

"No it hasn't." Glynda said, knowing that it was useless.

"My little dragon has fallen prey to some beast of sexual lust and process." Those words were the exact opposite of how she would describe Lie Ren. "Who knows how he's corrupted her, what sick things he's made her do with him and others, away from the protection of her family. Zwei, make sure to pee on everything this guy loves. I need a picture!" He demanded of either Ozpin or Glynda, for some reason thinking that they would be fine with this.

"Taiyang, Beacon has a proud tradition of our students not needing to fear their belongings being urinated on. Please do not ruin that." Ozpin pleaded, that part of Beacon's reputation being something that the two of them must have been feeling a great sense of pride in now.

"This Ren boy has let his wing-wang take control of his mind!" Taiyang declared, without any consideration, with a gleam in his eye. Zwei barked in support, wagging his tail, or something along those lines.

Glynda, for one, was beginning to get frustrated with Taiyang's extreme paranoia. "Lie Ren is nothing of the sort, he's a mild-mannered combat specialist who would do nothing similar to what you are likely imagining."

"That's what he wants you to think! Like that Russ boy a few years back, looking all harmless and polite, before he had a hand up Yang's shirt! I managed to save Ruby, but I won't let Yang fall!" Both Taiyang and Zwei had a look of determination that didn't nearly fit the current topic of discussion.

It took all of her willpower to not snap. A team consisting of three people lusting after one person? It was insane, the type of thing that schoolchildren imagined from a single glance, at least until they matured to the point where they could adapt beyond such silly thoughts. It was a source of relief for Glynda Goodwitch that nothing of the sort happened at Beacon.

* * *

"Excuse me?" Weiss all but screeched, horrified at what she was hearing.

She had called over the student from Mistral, who came over with Sun's team, who they were set to meet later in the week, as a way to show friendliness and maybe gain information about their team's strengths and weaknesses. Now, as late afternoon came closer, and the time to have a study-date (often devolving into playing video games) with BRNY was drawing closer, Weiss and the rest of Team JWPR had just heard the most ridiculous of rumours.

"Sorry, it's just what I heard," "Some students said that you, using your...wiles, seduced Pyrrha and the rest of your team."

It was only due to Jaune's quick reaction-time that Ruby was having her ears protected from this filth, even as she complained about comfort and the like. From what this misguided fool was saying, Weiss had apparently managed to seduce all three members of her team and turned them into her minions, bribed by affection, which first started with Pyrrha.

The evidence was, supposedly, that her earlier, and self-admittedly wrong, actions in bonding with Pyrrha through training was a sign that she and her teammate were having trysts all over the school. Then, out of jealousy, Ruby managed to sneak her way into the relationship and the two became inseparable, before Jaune then somehow became involved as of a few weeks ago. Not to mention the few bonding activities that the team engaged in, which was now supposedly a sign of fornication, in the eyes of the masses.

There was a fair explanation for all of this.

"Now, I'm sure that some things that we have done were merely misinterpreted, and I will need you to help spread the truth across the campus." Weiss explained, figuring out that her look of fury was slightly scaring the student from Mistral, to the point where sweat was pooling around his tan face, and green eyes were alight with fear.

"Sure." He managed to say, somewhat calmed by Weiss doing the same. The man had a brown set of hair, styled in a way remarkably similar to Ren's, and did manage to stand tall after he fell to the ground, so fierce was Weiss' barrage of words. It would be good for him to be cleared of certain misconceptions, however harshly things started at first.

"Now, who would like to start?" Weiss asked, deciding that one of her teammates might be able to calm down the Haven student better than she could.

"I think I should." Pyrrha offered, her status as a celebrity possibly serving to show that they were going to be friendly. She walked forward and waved to the Mistralian, who looked star-struck just looking at her. "Hello..."

"Paris, I think you knew my sister Hecta." He said, offering a wave of his own, shyness taking over. Weiss observed the look of recognition on Pyrrha's face, guessing that she knew this Hecta from somewhere.

"Indeed, from my last tournament, how is she?" Pyrrha asked, before she suddenly looked guilty "She got injured, didn't she?"

"Yeah, then a lot of stuff happened, and she's recovering from a few accidents." Paris appeared downcast at those words, before he rallied and beamed at Pyrrha. "She told me to say hi though, and that she's rooting for you. Behind me and the rest of the Mistral team." He added those last words quickly, which managed to make Pyrrha smile.

"Tell her I said thank you." She replied, before going onto the main reason they started talking. "Anyway, Weiss merely wanted to work with me to improve our teamwork, at the start of the year, as the two in our team with the most training. Ruby and Jaune joined so that we could all work to improve our flaws, and then become a greater team. Nothing more, nothing less." She explained, with Paris nodding.

"Why did you change your hairstyle then?" He asked, making both Weiss and Pyrrha freeze up at those words. "The ponytail to match Weiss Schnee's. They said it was to show her dom-"

"It was nothing like that." Pyrrha cut in, before Weiss could set this person straight. She seemed uncertain about her next words, as if trying to find the right way to put into words, something Weiss didn't think ever happened much with the former champion. "I just..."

As the heiress to a multi-trillion Lien legacy, Weiss knew to see certain things about certain people. For example, Paris, Ruby and Jaune may not have noticed a quick aside glance towards Jaune by Pyrrha, before going right back to the boy from Mistral, but Weiss did, just as she noticed Pyrrha's many attempts to bring up Jaune's mood and make him feel better about himself. Ruby might have noticed the glance, were she not grumbling about having her ears kept blocked, but she had also noticed that Pyrrha was more than fond of Jaune.

That said, Weiss wouldn't deny being somewhat hurt that the true reason for the hairstyle became clear to her. What she thought was a symbol of the two getting along, and even being good friends, was instead a way for Pyrrha to invoke a different image to get Jaune closer to her. It made her wonder how much was just based off trying to get Jaune over to her, whenever Weiss rejected his advances, and a small part of her wondered how much of their friendship was based off winning some boy.

She knew that it was illogical, but it still made her uncomfortable.

"She did it for her own reasons. Nothing to do with me." Weiss replied, somewhat more coldly than she had wanted to.

"The girl in the cape is apparently really affectionate with you, and the two of you have matching rings." Paris argued, pointing to Ruby, or more particularly, the ring on her finger.

The silver ring which Ruby wore on the index finger of her right hand brought an image to Weiss' mind. Her own ring, only on her left hand, and Ruby's had been bought by the other after their fight with Torchwick and the White Fang, might have given the impression that the two were in a...deeper relationship than they actually were. Ruby had been the one to recommend it to Weiss, and it was supposed to show how good partners and friends they were.

Only now, Weiss was beginning to see why Yang, Nora, and Sun took to giggling whenever the rings came up. Funny joke they heard last week her derriere.

"They're friendship rings, which we got after...a particular incident where we prevented a crime." She explained, which Paris seemed reluctant to accept as an answer.

"Are you talking about the BFF rings?" Ruby cried out, much louder than the Schnee heiress assumed she wanted, only it was enough to get the message through.

"Yes Ruby, and you don't need to shout." Weiss responded, motioning to Jaune to let her hear the rest of the conversation. It would have only been counter-productive, in the long-run, and Ruby was now safe from any of the more perverse parts of the conversation, so it would be better for JWPR's ear-drums if their leader could actually hear the conversation.

"Sorry." Ruby said, gaining a nod of forgiveness from Weiss.

"And the Arc? They say he was smitten at first sight, and proved himself worthy of your affection." Paris concluded, forcing Weiss' face to heat-up, and Jaune to go completely red.

"Still working on it," He admitted, before his face lit up and he turned to directly face Weiss. "I do have something which might change your mind." He offered, checking his pockets for what was certainly some scrap of paper.

"It's a poem isn't it? Well, Jaune, maybe it'll do what your many other attempts at winning me over failed to. In fact, since it'll certainly do so, let's just get married!" She offered, her sarcasm sharp enough to cut through an Ursa Major with ease.

It wasn't enough, it seemed. Pyrrha and Ruby were looking at her with horror, she imagined for very different reasons, and Jaune looked about ready to faint on the spot, clearly thinking that she was being serious about her words. Nothing could match the flabbergasted expression on the face of the Haven student, clearly pointing him out to be the more gullible one of his team.

_Does no one understand sarcasm?_

"No, I didn't mean it." Weiss said, her tone one of utter defeat, as the four before her scrambled to cover their tracks, filled with bizarre theories about her.

"That does make more sense than your team being some kind of screwed-up love-square." Paris admitted, looking embarrassed, as his face turned an even darker shade of red. The many different knick-knacks he pulled out, containing posters and albums, explained it somewhat. "You two mind signing some stuff of mine? It's for me and some friends, a lot of people really like you two. I know you guys are probably way too important and would out my league to but I'd really appreciate it."

If there was one thing Weiss didn't think she'd see much of, at this point, it was star-struck fans. During her career as a singer, it had been during a time where Atlas was still changing its laws to deal with the White Fang, so her father took it upon himself to assign her guards and establish protocol for meeting with fans. Every interaction had been heavily controlled, with secret vetting done for each person, to ensure that nothing would happen to her.

One thing that Beacon did, that no one but the most aware about the history of the SDC and Weiss' own personal history, was remind her of the truth about the Schnee Conglomerate. The first was that the rags to riches story of her grandfather, told to the children of Atlas to remind them of the Kingdom's higher ideals, was less than completely true. Her great-great grandfather was more that type, while her grandfather (as the owner of many small businesses at the time) more took advantage of the commercialisation of Dust and used it to create the SDC and expand the Schnee empire into numerous fronts.

Still, it meant that Weiss had to be secluded from many areas, during her personal fame. She was only ever truly seen, without explicit protection, at social events and at the safety of the Schnee family home of Ice Palace.

Pyrrha might have gone through the same sort of deal, to a much lesser extent, considering that brands like Pumpkin Pete's relied on more face-to-face interaction. Without the fear of assassination as well, Pyrrha probably had more interaction with fans, but the pressure on it being controlled must have been more informal and more based on controlling emotions. The joys of privacy that high security who were paid to not offer opinions meant that Weiss didn't have to create a whole new persona.

Either way, the two were able to sign the many products shown to them, and Paris thanked them and said goodbye. Weiss managed to extract a promise to debunk that sick rumour about JWPR, and the four were left alone to their thoughts, merely killing time before they met up with BRNY and Sun for a night of fun.

"I forget that you two used to be famous." Ruby admitted, looking almost unhappy with herself.

"That's rather what I like about this team, I don't have to be Pyrrha Nikos, the idol of thousands." Pyrrha admitted, making the moment one of the few that she had ever brought up the stresses of her stardom.

"It is nice to free of singing whatever was put in front of me. Not that anyone could tell the difference." Weiss added, remembering those tedious days, going from reciting what she felt to whatever words were put in front of her. It sapped most of the emotion and heart she put into them, and yet no one ever truly notice-

"Nah, there was some difference." Ruby said, those very words making Weiss widen her eyes in amazement. _How could she tell?_

"Yeah definitely. You sounded more sad in the middle songs, like you weren't really liking it as much as before." Jaune added, almost as if it were something that he didn't need to think about at all.

"It's why I prefer the starting and ending ones more, you're happier there, and it shows." Ruby finished, as she began to walk towards their dorm, followed by Jaune and Pyrrha.

Weiss kept herself calm, despite her amazement. It even took her a few seconds to register what was happening and rushed to catch up with the rest of her team, she had been so caught off-guard by her partner's words. No one had ever brought that up with her, or even showed signs of knowing, not even Winter seemed to tell that the songs she loved to hear weren't as real as she thought. Only her team, through either innocence or the time spent together, managed to understand. Even Jaune, who couldn't understand direct instructions, knew what she had felt!

It made her think of the harshness of some of her rejections of his offers, a slight guilty twinge in her heart. _Maybe I'm being too hard on him, it's just a bit of a crush. Maybe I could be gentler in telling hi-_

"I did have a poem made, it should be in one of my pockets." Jaune turned to his partner, as he was searching the pockets of his school uniform. "Oh yeah, we should definitely get those friendship rings, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha may have became nervous at those words, yet Weiss mostly concentrated on facepalming and being secure in the knowledge that the boy in front of her needed very clear words about how impossible his desire for them to date was. The boy needed to learn, however harsh the lesson may be.

With that in mind, she chose to focus more on tomorrow, and the peaceful and serene time that she would have with her team and friends. Weiss could almost picture the lovely scene now.

* * *

Of course it had to be a food fight. Naturally, the messiest and most chaotic of fights that can happen in a dining hall, the day before classes started again and before the Atlesian students arrived at Beacon, had to have happened when Glynda Goodwitch was on the opposite side of the school itself. Where she would need to walk the entire way to said dining hall, and then clean-up the whole mess and ensure that none of the students under her supervision were harmed in the crossfire.

Surprises of surprises, it was Teams JWPR and BRNY that were the cause of this. The fleeing students, and the fact that the first years were marginally less surprised than the second and third years, should have indicated that it was Beacon's more disruptive teams causing the anarchy spreading across the campus. It was as if Glynda had angered some sort of deity, dooming her to a life of constantly cleaning the mess of others.

She prayed that the arrival of the dog would calm them down, yet she found it unlikely.

So, in her stride, both metaphorically and literally, Glynda took it upon herself to restore order the second she reached the dining hall. That did mean, however, that she could only sate the concerns of the fleeing students who took the time to actually ask her for assistance somehow.

Thankfully, years of being an educator meant that she was more than prepared for the many requests and fears that the students of Beacon had.

The first was a male student, likely second-year, who still had a few crumbs on his face, the likely result of having to stop eating quickly. "Professor Goodwitch-"

"The dining hall will be repaired in time, and the nature of semester breaks means that those of who who still want to eat can do so." She informed him, trying to make herself heard over the cries of horror from the crowd. The thanks she was given did give her a bit of spirit.

A large tanned third-year, who she recognised as a persistent trouble-maker, in between his likely misinforming first years about the incident, now spoke to her. "Goodw-"

"Please maintain the teacher-student relationship! No, this does not mean an extension of the semester break." She barked, cowing the cocky student. Not even stopping for a moment, her presence did bring calm to some.

A panicked first-year, her eyes containing clear black circles beneath them, tried to gain her attention. She must have been stuck on one of her assignments and needed some advice, latching onto the nearest teacher. "Professor-"

"An extension to your assignment should be requested from your teacher themselves, and should be done during their office hours." If the situation were less chaotic, she might have used a gentler tone. That said, she seemed to appreciate the words given.

One of the Mistral students, whose hair reminded her somewhat of Lie Ren's, had to be pulled back by his team. The look in his eye resembled a war veteran's. "Oh good lor-"

"Please understand that this is not the typical Beacon experience, and feel free to approach the student body with concerns that you have." Glynda pointed out, already realising that she was going to have to explain this to so many people.

"Team CRDL can't hold that door forever!" One of the last students, as Goodwitch passed through the crowd, screamed out to her. He pointed to the dining hall's main doors, and the figures standing by it, likely keeping the fight from sprawling out.

"I will be taking control of the situation soon, try and inform them, and others keeping the fight contained, of this news." She stated, only to find that very few were interested in following those instructions. One was enough, however.

Two girls moving towards her, their school uniform, or lack of it, suggested that they were from Vacuo. "Are you-"

"Yes, I am indeed Professor Glynda Goodwitch, unfortunately I am limited on time, so any discussion now would be too brief. My office hours can be located on your Scroll, and I am happy to answer any questions." Glynda had seen girls like these before, during these inter-school programmes, and had learnt to hide her glee about the impact she had on people.

Another thing she appreciate was that they were walking and talking at the same pace, instead of forcing her to shout at fleeing students."Can we-"

"I'm always happy to hear that I've inspired others to take up a career in public service. That said, I am preoccupied at the moment." She still signed the pieces of paper they had, and spoke as gently as she could, with the situation in mind, as the girls then departed.

The door had held up remarkably well, although how much was due to its own sturdiness against the antics of a certain group of first-year students was a fair question, and the students holding it shut were doing an admirable job. She saw a certain Cardin Winchester and his team doing the main effort, although there was some sort of conversation between them and a second-year team. Words such as 'Yatsuhashi', 'tank', and 'can't even compare' were being used, which Glynda guessed was one Mr. Winchester learning about the limits of his abilities, which would help him learn from his failings in Combat Practice.

His team's basic failings, lack of cooperation and nothing beyond attacking, were getting tedious to point out.

"I will handle the situation from here." She proclaimed, as the students took it as a sign that it would be safe to flee as well. The panic and conversation they were engaged in seemed to hide the room's sudden quiet from them, after one final crash, but Glynda couldn't be too sure if that was the end or if the fight had taken a quiet turn.

With that, she chose to enter the room herself, stepping forward and noticing the two transfer students who had been unable to leave in time to escape the scene in front of them. One she could recognise as Sun Wukong, one of the Mistral students who had already been caught in trouble with the local legal authorities, and was involved in that battle on the docks, and what looked to have once been his partner. The unhappy look on his face, with all the mess on him and non on Mr Wukong, at least showed the two hadn't been involved.

She felt a growl come out of her, thankful that no one seemed to notice or hear her, as she witnessed the giant barricade of tables and chairs forming a wall right in front of her, and the fields of food and drinks that littered the floor and walls, creating stains that would take a great time of deal to clean. If that wasn't enough, there were two holes of all things in the roof, and a large mural of some unholy mixture of condiments and sodas on the wall, with three of Team BRNY covered in it.

It was hell on Remnant.

As much as she hated to use her power for more trivial things, Glynda was thankful that she was at a level where a simple wave of her crop brought some form of order back to the room. The food, now-ruined, was back on repaired plates and bowls, and most of the liquids were back in their soda containers, the roof was repaired, and even the room itself had some semblance towards normality once more.

_Other than a completely terrified student body, numerous stains to uniform, and a mess that needs to be cleaned off the windows and floors._ She bitterly thought to herself, looking at the six culprits in front of her, and chose to take the high road, going from advice that she imagined Ozpin would give.

"Children, please," She said, counting to ten in her head, as she remained calm. "Do not play with your food."

Nora replied to this with a belch, forcing Glynda to restrain the urge to sentence that girl to detention for the rest of her life, which was made worse by the roof gaining two new hole owing to the falling forms of what looked like Jaune Arc and Yang Xiao Long. Both Team Jasper and Burgundy chose to respond to this with uproarious laughter, driving Glynda to the point of shouting, until a hand on her shoulder managed to calm her down.

"Let it go, Glynda." Ozpin spoke levelly, somehow managing to bring her down from her fury, even as she felt a need for them to recognise what they did.

"They're supposed to be defenders of the world." She said feebly, ignoring the jokes about being in the air and seeing homes from a certain height.

"And they will be. But for now, they are children, so let them play the part." Ozpin gently suggested, before he turned to leave the room himself. "It is not one they will have for long, in this life." He added, leaving Glynda with her thoughts, as the two transfer students moved to leave themselves, perhaps to clean off the dirty one.

She was left alone with the students, who had given Ozpin and her a thumbs-up earlier. Calming herself down, after having been dragged from her work so quickly, Glynda did see the point in Ozpin's words, however much she was irritated by what had happened.

With all that looked to be happening, especially right before the Vytal Festival, Glynda knew that she just needed to trust in Ozpin's judgement and do her part. Anything less would give the advantage towards the unknown enemy, somehow able to control the largest terrorist group in Remnant and one of the more dangerous criminals at the same time.

What she wouldn't give to know the identity of the mastermind.

* * *

"We are not pleased, Torchwick." One of the voices, male, he thought, droned.

"I give a shit. In fact, sewage workers pray day and night that I do not hear your words, when they are working." Roman replied, not moving his eyes from the charts he was reading on.

"Where is the head of the traitor?" Another voice demanded, this one younger and more aggressive, treating him as if he were a child.

"I'm working on it," Roman grunted, not liking how pushy everyone around him was getting about the whole thing. "I'm just a bit busy with other problems, in case you haven't noticed." He pointed out, motioning to the warehouse, the equipment inside, and the goons he was made to work with.

Roman Torchwick wasn't the most fond of the Faunus. In his experience, they tended to add a layer of self-righteousness to their actions that he felt was unnecessary, and tended to make operations go chaotic owing to suspicions from old-timers. Most of the Faunus criminals he knew either hated humans, or got super-whiney when someone made jokes about their features, making them reveal how unprofessional they really were.

Not to mention the whole question of where they came from. Roman asked a few innocent questions, back when he was an adorable pickpocket, and suddenly the entire Faunus criminal community shuts him out. That kind of excessive solidarity really made him angry, so a few heists in his adulthood ended in the Faunus being left behind as scapegoats, or scapecats, scapedogs, scapemonkeys, or whatever they were.

The leadership of the White Fang, compliant towards Cinder Fall's wishes since who knows when, were the worst. If Roman kidnapped some people, tied them up, and recorded their screams of mercy and deaths, he'd do it because he was paid to, or they did something to anger him or Neo. He wasn't the type to pretend that murdering someone had some great purpose behind it, or that people would look back on it with pride, and doing so merely revealed their own insanity about the whole thing.

It was why Atlas, and thus Mistral, not wanting to look lacking in front of their rival, adopted all those pesky security rules that made doing business very tricky. The same must have been the case for them, otherwise they wouldn't have become Cinder's bitches so fast, considering that Vale and everything outside the rest of the Four Kingdoms was still open season. All of them were on the same boat of dependency.

_So why are you being so difficult?_ He asked them mentally, but he wasn't the type to whine, so he just remained silent while they acted like spoilt brats.

"We've noticed your ability to purchase goods has not suffered from time reductions, nor has your attempts at locating Arc family members." A third voice, this one a girl, argued. The tone of her voice could be described as pure bitch, which was probably her breed or whatever the Faunus differentiated themselves by.

"That's different, all of those are for the greater goal. We need hostages, for a plan I'm thinking of, and we need supplies to not die." Roman said, without a care in the world. "You know, that thing we all like doing?" He asked, finding their insistence on mixing personal and work business to be very unprofessional.

"It is clear that we were right to take it out of his hands." A fourth voice spoke up, this one gruff. "Adam's recommendations have proven to be the correct course of action, yet again."

"We should have listened to him, when it came to his partner, judging from the report on the docks." A fifth and final, of those talking to him, voice admitted. She sounded around Roman's age, but it was hard to tell. "Regardless, the traitor Tukson has been purged, without requiring your services."

"What?" He asked, his voice flat, no trace of humour in it at all. His grip on the clipboard tightened, almost breaking it in two.

They probably didn't know this, being the great and noble Commanders of the White Fang, but they likely just did a big no-no in the world of crime. No matter what, as long as the contract was still valid, and it specified one guy to do a job, you didn't interfere in another's guy's mission. Everyone had to eat, and it was just as easy to kill and mug them afterwards, so just nicking a contract just spat in everyone's faces, Roman knew feuds that lasted decades for that kind of crap. Only rookies, jokes and fuck-ups got that treatment.

And those animals might as well as just called him that.

It was the worst time for Neo to have walked in, looking very happy with herself. "Did you know about this?" Roman shouted, pointing the clipboard at a very confused-shorty. It was clear that she knew jack, and would have told him otherwise. "Sorry, Neo. I just found out that a bunch of animals have gone for the shiny again."

"Animals?!" Voice #2 all but roared, the sound from the black screen transmitting them from his computer suggested he left his seat for that. Unless he had a Semblance that allowed him to break reality, it wasn't nearly as threatening as he thought it was.

"Calm down, brother. He seeks to rile us, to cover for his own failings." Voice #3 told him, followed up by silence, before she spoke to Roman again. "Tell us, how did a boy who had to fake his way into Beacon defeat the so-called great Roman Torchwick?" The way she asked that only confirmed Roman's suspicions about her being a bitch.

"That was a fluke." He nearly whispered. Everyone had been going on about what a joke he was because of that, years of reputation was being stained because of one lucky-shot that broke his Melodic Cudgel. Neo grabbed his arm, all of a sudden, and gave him a serious look with a brown and white pattern, calming him down._They want me angry, so I look crazy and they can get Cinder to choose someone more compliant._

"I see he's been told of our escapade?" A familiar and bitchy voice asked, sounding very pleased with herself.

Emerald and Mercury were about as welcome as testicular cancer, for Roman. That smug look that told everyone how happy they were with themselves was not something Roman needed right now, the two clearly knowing what stealing that assignment was to someone like him, and both of them didn't seem the least bit regretful about it. Just looking at Cinder's pets made him angry, after the crap they had been pulling.

Neo, being Neo, had decided to play a few pranks on Emerald for basically being a high-strung whiner, stealing some of her stuff and placing them elsewhere, to even leaving ice cream to be dumped on her head, leaving her authority undermined. She had begun the same stuff with Mercury, with his comics and kiddie books, when the two went crying to Cinder.

Whatever she did to Neo, it was enough for her to have two white eyes, marks on her skin, and a shaking fit whenever she saw the woman from then on, which Emerald and Mercury just loved. Naturally, Roman was not happy with this, and made it clear to Queen Bitch that if she tried that shit again, she'd have to answer to him.

Neo may be a psychotic dwarf, but she was his psychotic dwarf, and he wasn't going to let anyone but him threaten her.

Playing the cool guy, encouraged by Neo's devious smile, walked right up to Emerald. "How are you kids? Does it taste nice?" He asked, tilting his head sideways, and restraining a full glare.

Mercury, in what could only be a miracle, was the first to have his brain reach his mouth. "What are you-"

"Judging from your buddy-buddy relationship, I'd say the taste of Faunus cu-"

"That's disgusting." Roman chose to reply to Emerald by revealing the piece of paper in his hand, causing her to try and question him. "Where did you even-"

"Professional, honey." He said, cutting her off, before letting it rip. "Now then, why don't you all tell me what the hell this is? Maybe animals can't think as fast as humans, but surely some of your little connections have told you that this is basically pissing on my face? And you two? I had it handled, and I don't appreciate the two of you either cavorting with others to undermine me, or going crying to Cinder to scare off my partner. So next time? Remember that I have these things under control."

"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale to Vacuo say otherwise." Mercury replied, looking offended at Roman's little speech.

Vacuo made sense. Most deserters of the White Fang still had that whole preachy idealism complex, so they'd want to go somewhere that's great for Faunus Rights, and a few wanted to risk the life of a nomad or a Reclaimer, either running from or to the Grimm, meaning it'd have to be one of the Four Kingdoms. As Vacuo was the best with Faunus Rights, since forever, the White Fang and other militants had limited support, so it was easy for someone like that bookshop owner to try and start over in.

"The desert is good for rats." Voice #1 spat, clearly not being fond of that Tukson guy.

"He was more like a cat-type." Emerald cut in, attracting agreement from Voice #5 and #2.

"Like a puma." Mercury finished, the two of them looking pleased with themselves.

"I was going for a metaphor, but you were mostly right." Voice #1 admitted, almost sounding sad that his little line got ruined. "Either way, this shows once more that you have proven to be the weak link of the chain. We will be bringing this up with Cinder, and there shall be consequences." Neo flinched, having always been fearful of people like Cinder, those with more power than they could ever use in their lifetime.

Roman chose to go aggressive, guessing that the universal language of violence would work here."You want to threaten me? If I was in charge of this, I'd take you and the brats over there and I'd-"

"Do what?" A very teasing and seductive, but there was nothing sexy about it, tone asked.

Cinder Fall had arrived, the sound of those damn glass slippers heralding her arrival. The true master of this little conspiracy to do something, she attracted a variety of reactions from all over the little power-brokers of this game, Emerald beamed and ran like a small dog to its master, Mercury managing to just smile. The Commanders of the White Fang had become silent, as if they were children being punished, and Neo shivered, moving closer to Roman, and he didn't blame her.

The look in her eyes said that punishment was going to be given, for his sin of waiting too long, and the role of a simpering servant was needed.

"I-I-I'd...not kill them?" He asked, knowing that this kind of show was what won Cinder's approval. He hated how pathetic she made him and Neo look, in times like these, but defiance was something he didn't want to risk.

"We have been awaiting your arrival, Lady Fall. Your wisdom is appreciated in these times, as are the initiatives of your young wards." Voice #1 said, leaving Roman to wonder if that guy's spit was what kept Cinder's heels so shiny.

It was a small comfort to see Emerald's hug be rejected, before Cinder's anger was turned on him. "Roman, why didn't you handle the matter like I asked? Instead, you've been focusing on pointless revenge ploys and shows of strength, all of which undermine the nature of the plan and make us look foolish."

"I had it under control, he wouldn't have made it to Vacuo." Roman said, having already had a plan to contact Junior and get someone to make sure that the Faunus only left Vale in a coffin.

"Is that the case? Then why did we and the Commanders have to take charge, to make sure that your job was done." Emerald asked, latching onto Cinder's anger like the loyal dog she was.

"Emerald is right. He is a liability, only resolved by the quick thinking and prowess of your companions." Voice #4 contributed, turning the whole conversation into a circlejerk about how much Roman sucked and how great everyone else was.

Mercury chuckled to himself, as the White Fang Commanders kept pouring praise onto him and Emerald. "One kick and his head almost came right-"

"Quiet." One word and everyone went silent. Roman way more enjoyment from the panic he could feel from the monitors, as she turned to Mercury and Emerald. "I told you to keep your hands clean in Vale, and do remember who is the true master here, and the White Fang Commanders should know that I assign these missions how they are for a reason." She said, as both Roman and Neo took to making faces behind her back, as a form of petty revenge.

Roman thought his 'use hand to show complaining' trick was good, but Neo's 'never close your jaw, but keeping moving it up and down to show moaning' was a sign that the student surpassed the master.

Emerald moved to defend herself and Mercury."We thought-"

At the same time, the White Fang Commanders seemed eager to save themselves as well. "Our thinking was-"

Roman decided that now, with everyone else panicking, would be the best time to speak up in his own defence. "I think-"

"That's the problem." Cinder spoke up, and it was almost sickening how quickly they moved to quiet themselves, before she spoke to them like idiots. "You're all _thinking_, and changing the plan to suit your own egos and desires. If you ask me, there should be less thinking and more..."

"Obeying." They all spoke respectfully, ending her sentence for her, knowing better than to drone.

It was a humiliation tactic, designed to make them feel like servants and force them to admit that she could make them do whatever she wanted them to do, and no one hated it more than Roman. That didn't change the fact that, if she told him to eat the dirt and call it chocolate, he'd ask what flavour she'd prefer.

"Good. Now Roman, what was the cause for delay?" She asked, giving him the chance to defend himself against the animals and the Tweedle-Dumb-Fucks.

To answer the sociopath, Roman motioned to the many Dust containers they had. "I've been running a lot of heists lately! Not to mention that those brats have made the police and SDC more aware than ever, so we have to fight our way through all kinds of crap to get the damn things! Neo has had to lead sub-teams, and the White Fang haven't exactly been very giving for these missions, when all I've got are a bunch of grunts who can't solve shit. Yet somehow, I've managed to steal nearly every last bit of Dust in Vale."

"You're an inspiration." Mercury replied, not even looking impressed

"The monitor prevents you from seeing me weep in shame." Voice #3 added, backing up Cinder's pet boytoy.

"Listen, Boy and His Dog. I'm being the only successful one here. Dust prices have skyrocketed, the police are searching through every nook and cranny but ours, and I've even heard that the Royal Palace is getting regular checks for explosives! We've got Vale scared and more Dust than we could ever use. With that, mind telling me the next step in our super-plan?" He asked, getting tired of Cinder's 'mysterious and unbeatable plan' crap.

"Torchwick has a point. We are reluctant to send our better-trained operatives in, without some idea of what comes after." Voice #5 argued, although she made it sound too humble to really sound like she was going to push it.

"Your support is appreciated, but maybe aim that pat away from the knife?" He asked, uninterested in their attempt at making friendly with him.

"Oh Roman," Cinder stalked right up to him as she spoke, forcing him on-guard. "You'll know what you need to know when you need to. Okay?" She asked, making direct eye-contact with him.

Her eyes almost seemed to glow, and a weird noise rang in his head. It wasn't a bad noise, once he got used to it, and he started to see where Cinder was coming from, with the whole keeping things under wraps and making it go as fast as possible. The plan was bigger than him, that was clear, and he had been letting his ego get in the way of doing his job.

Roman was just being an idiot again, he didn't even know why he was arguing with Cinder in the first place.

Hell, why did he even need to-

_Fuck that!_ Some part of him declared, making him jerk in place. He could guess what she just tried to pull and broke eye contact, looking anywhere but her eyes, not wanting to get caught in a trance again. Cinder chuckled at that, and Neo was left looking at him as if something was horribly wrong with him, even after a few seconds of that. _I'm alright, Neo. Don't get worried._

He didn't know why, yet she somehow knew what he was thinking, and it did manage to make her calm down about the whole thing.

"Clear out the White Fang, Roman, they'll be needed. Commanders, send who you like, but we need a certain number for the next phase of our plan, select it whoever you desire. You wish to understand what's next? Here's your chance, phase two is starting and coordinates and details will be sent to you later tonight." Cinder instructed, turning to leave, joined by Emerald and Mercury.

"Coordinates?" He asked, wondering where exactly Cinder wanted him to go with a small army of White Fang goons, along with hundreds of pounds of Dust. All in a single night as well.

"Just don't mess this one up." Emerald warned, before she turned to follow her boss.

It was times like these that Roman was thankful for the miracle of cigars to smoke. Only, as he brought out one of his lighters, he realised that Emerald had only gotten close to steal the damn thing. Looking at the little trickster, he found said girl sticking her tongue out at him and taking the lighter away from him, all in the same of spite.

"Lady Fall, will we be receiving the details as well?" Voice #1 asked, sounding oddly worried. If Roman didn't know any better, he would say that the same worry was almost oozing out of the monitor before him.

"You'll get what you need." Mercury replied for his master, as the three went out of sight, and Neo chucked Roman his lucky lighter. He kept it with his sidekick, in case something like that ever happened.

The monitors shut themselves off, Cinder's absence leaving them with no reason to speak with one another, and left Roman and Neo relatively alone. He preferred to ignore the zoo he was in, so he enjoyed the cigar for a good while, before Neo dropped a piece of paper in his pocket, he looked to find her winking at him with two brown eyes. After that, she strolled off to direct the evacuation efforts, leaving him with the note he had.

"Neo, sometimes you are the silliest-" He had been murmuring to himself as he read the note, but truly processing it stopped him dead in his tracks. His eyes widened, and a very familiar grin came to his face, realising what the point of holding his balls to the fire really was. "You sneaky bastards. I didn't think you'd have it in you."

Maybe the Faunus weren't so bad. Anyone who could guess that Cinder was going to fuck them all over, and wanted safety from that, was more than welcome to his help. That went doubly so, when said plan would save him as well.

* * *

**Good to be back in the flow. Try and guess the references I made to certain other things, and enjoy the hints at plotlines to come.**


	11. Pulling It Together

**Getting back into the flow was harder than I thought, but I'm getting back into it, that's the important thing. It's the feedback that really keeps me going, knowing that you guys are just as interested in what's happening as the characters are, so without further ado, let's get started.**

* * *

James Ironwood, whatever role he was in, always liked to do things in a grandiose way. At least, that was always Ozpin's impression of the man.

Having said that, a small armada of airships seemed a slight bit excessive, for a festival meant to celebrate the peace and unity of the world. Ozpin knew better than to assume that the soldiers that were likely in those airships were there to assist in the cleaning-up of the Vytal Festival, known for being a long-standing nightmare of sanitation workers across the world. With the clouds acting to block a fair amount of the view below, he could still make out enough military might to serve as an expeditionary force.

Maybe he was wrong, an event certainly not rare to him. After all, perhaps the airships were a new project of Beacon's Atlesian sibling, forming a giant android to use to achieve success in the Tournament?

_No, that'd be silly._Ozpin chided himself, even now letting flights of fantasy distract him from potentially bad news.

"Ironwood certainly enjoys bringing his work with him." Glynda's words had cut off Opzin's pondering. She had never taken a kind eye to her former partner's exploits for the past few years, this decision being no exception, and Ozpin felt compelled to defend his former student.

"Running both an Academy and a military can necessitate measures like these," He said, before another look at the military airships that polluted the sky, and the image they brought to his mind, brought him over to Glynda's side. "They are quite the eyesores, however."

The beeping he heard from his monitor, so finely installed on such a specific desk, signalled the entrance of one James Ironwood. As always, when it came to meetings like these, he was dressed in the attire of a General of the Atlesian military, a mixture of the single-colour to show the focus of the military, and the finesse of a businessman, both becoming a single form. Not to mention a cybernetic limb, and interest in scientific matters

Was there any better metaphor for the principles of Atlas?

"Ozpin, it's been far too long." James greeted, the cheer in his voice keeping the old Huntsman's thoughts from wondering. The classic sign of old age.

"Hello general." Ozpin replied, standing at attention as he would any military official of Ironwood's rank. When it was just James, he would rarely bother, yet it was often that some other person with the man who Ozpin did not want to give the wrong impression to, whether it was an official of the military, Royal Family, Council, the SDC, or even the great Frost Schnee himself. Better safe than sorry, especially in the case of the last.

"Please, drop the formalities." James replied, almost sounding embarrassed. Seeing that they would be alone, Ozpin and his former-student shook hands, which led him to notice that James' decision to use his gloved hand meant that there was an exceptionally firm grip. The third occupant of the room moved forward, a fact not unnoticed. "Glynda, it has certainly been too long. We must catch up again, perhaps invite Bart along as well, and get as much of the gang back as we can." James instantly said, his smile brightening to the point where Ozpin almost felt jealous of her.

"Oh James," Glynda replied, her voice not showing the slightest bit of amusement. She had never taken James' attempts to romance his partner well, which was understandable, even if Ozpin himself thought that the poems written were very charming. "I'll be outside if anyone needs me." She said, turning to Ozpin with a scowl.

"She hasn't changed a bit." Her once-partner said, as the doors closed behind them, as did the sight of Glynda leaving. His voice carried no bitterness, just a reminiscence of the past, a trait that Ozpin always liked about the man before him. "We should get down to business, I just got off a call with a very upset member of the Mistrelian High Council. Their Queen is having a tantrum. Honestly, ever since that whole Palate business, she's got Atlas on the brain. It should be handled, but who knows what trick she'll try and pull."

"Even now, the blood of the Original Hunters still carries weight. Still, they are not the divine chosen they once were seen as." Ozpin replied, as he poured some coffee from his fine teapot to a mug. Even with that, he knew when someone was looking at him in a certain way, expecting a story about his experience with it. Seeing him as this timeless being, it always made him laugh. "I'm not that old, James. That said, such concerns are likely going to be addressed to me as well, so I feel compelled to ask why you've taken such measures." He asked, handing James his mug, taken politely.

"It's Beacon's turn to hold the Tournament, and so you're the host. What excuse does a man need to visit his old teacher and friend?" James asked in response, filling his drink with alcohol of some sorts, when he assumed Ozpin hadn't noticed.

He didn't judge how Huntsmen and Huntresses coped with the stress of their jobs. Bart switched between coffee and whiskey, especially in his safari trips with Peter, and Ozpin never took it as something to comment on. _We all deal with the pressures one way or another, who am I to disdain one man's method, if he does not excess?_

"Far be it from me to avoid quality time with friends, but the small fleet does make me somewhat nervous. I'd rather not suffer a game of Oligopoly ending in missiles fired on me, on top of Glynda's tantrum for buying something she desired for herself." Ozpin said, pouring himself a drink.

"Being nervous is the reason for their arrival." James replied, looking down on the many clock mechanisms of Ozpin's office, before a frown came to him. "I have the feeling that we should cut the song and dance, and get down to the facts."

_I have always preferred the song and dance, even now. Is that a sign of a man who avoids the truth, or a man who wants happiness?_ Ozpin let out a sigh, he never enjoyed talks like the one that was coming. Such things were a sign on a crisis coming forth, which forced him to make hard decisions.

Even in modern times, Ozpin thought that the sort of people who went straight for the hard decision were too lionised, assuming that the speed to a decision was the only important factor of such a choice. Few considered what it meant to be a victim of a hard decision, to have your life be the victim of cold-blooded pragmatism, and for the one who made the choice to be haunted the implications of what they had done.

"We are in a time of peace. Shows of force like this will only create the tension you seek to avoid, you of all people should know about the security dilemma." He placed the mug down as he spoke, expecting a long debate. Ozpin looked Ironwood in the eye, not letting his emotions show, keeping his voice calm. "Atlas moves to defend itself from an invisible enemy, Mistral assumes it is the true target. We don't need the two great powers of Remnant at each other's throats, especially now."

"The fact that now is important is the reason I've done this." Ironwood replied. He had taken the role of the defensive general, acting as if he was one of the few to understand the threat of the situation, at the cost of ignoring its fragility. "Like it or not, the end of this peace is coming. We and Mistral have taken measures to curb down on the White Fang and they're working, while Vale has become the hotspot of activity and probably the location of the enemy's plan. Not to mention Qrow's report, which-"

"If it's true, it must be handled tactfully." He cut in sharply, knowing where the conversation would go otherwise. "We don't know who this Queen is, beyond a few theories and there are too many risks in acting now. If the enemy thinks we know about them, they will plan accordingly, and the chance to use the momentum we have been building against them will be lost."

"What momentum do we have? The enemy can rampage our economies, and cause chaos without action being taken." Ironwood's tone became darker, betrayal coating some of the words. "I've gotten calls about a certain taskforce the Council created after an attempted robbery at the docks, which is now in bureaucratic limbo, designed to deal with this. They know that someone tried to stop them, the time for tact has passed. If there is a plan, I'd like to be informed about it." He almost hissed those words out, more from hurt he didn't wish to show.

Ozpin responded with a defensive stance, folding his hands into each other. "It's the Vytal Festival, if it's economics you're worried about, hundreds of soldiers will not inspire confidence in the stock markets. The proposed taskforce has simply been co-opted into existing efforts to avoid the Council's beloved red-tape, and the fact that sources have made you aware show that such a group have had information leakage problems from the start."

Ozpin knew that he wasn't being fair to Ironwood. He had merely thrown up the accusation to hide his own motives, when he knew exactly how he had came to know of the taskforce, and the risks of leaks were small enough to be contained. It was more likely that one Jaune Arc, having helped plan the ambush, excitedly told his family of the entire tale and let his father discover the measures that were to be taken, Philip Arc probably went to Ironwood and explained the whole thing when the project stagnated.

The Ironwood faction, as Glynda took to growling of when hearing of demands for more action, was growing more and more.

It was not unnatural for the Huntsmen and Huntresses of the world to form little groupings among themselves and others outside their line of work, gained from interaction in missions and from meetings in the Vytal Festival, and the arrival of technology like Scrolls made such alliances easier. Recently, such things had been looked down on as divisive to the cause of fighting the Grimm, and the cause of what almost cost mankind its humanity itself, but the concept made a resurgence for one reason and that reason alone.

They didn't think Ozpin was doing enough.

He knew such a backlash was inevitable, his style was to keep a small inner-circle and confide his plans to them and keep it between them until it was completed, such a thing was a foul habit that he never kicked. When the glow of new freedom faded, and forcing the Grimm back became a great ideal once more, many felt as if he represented the fears of the past, letting the present slip by and dooming the future to stagnation and potential doom.

This wasn't to say that they despised him, or that they were even united on such matters. Most of them merely wanted a change of pace and a greater transparency in decision-making, which Ozpin could understand, and they differed on how to deal with the White Fang, the methods to use against the Grimm, and weren't even that united or organised. He doubted that Philip Arc had ever personally met Frost Schnee. The grouping just seemed united on thinking that James Ironwood reflected their views best, and in having him serve as their mouthpiece when speaking with Ozpin.

Something he preferred they kept to.

"I just want to be cautious. For all we know, terrorists like the White Fang could be readying themselves, as we speak." Ironwood said, only for his posture to relax and his stance to move away from a general defending his conduct. He had become a man who didn't want to bicker, who could see the bigger picture. "Ozpin, I don't want us stepping on each other's toes. Let's work together, share information, and do something." James offered, looking for Ozpin to reply in the affirmative.

"In the kindest way possible, James, I feel that certain confidants cannot be trusted." Ozpin replied, knowing that his words would enter James' ears, and then leave to enter the head of the SDC's. He could trust James, but he was not warm to the idea of bringing into his confidence, a man who saw geo-politics, human-Faunus relations, and the safety of the world as a challenge to the legacy of the Schnee Empire.

"He's not some monster. He's just cold, to stop others from hurting him, and he has no interest in people dying. I know you, Glynda, and others, have never approved of the SDC's expansion into military research, or their growing involvement in government affairs, however I know and trust the man. We can all do great things if we come together and fight now." James pleaded, knowing of the elephant in the room.

"I'm afraid I must stick with caution, James." Ozpin said, kindly and firmly putting the matter to rest. "We shall continue training the best Huntsmen and Huntresses we can, to protect the next generation, and to keep the fight up against extinction."

"I know, and am." Ironwood replied, moving to leave the room, likely realising that he wasn't going to get what he was aiming for. "Is hiding beneath mountains and ocean is a way to live? We need to become active again, Ozpin, against evil of all kinds. Your fear of what happened once happening again is preventing us from moving in the right direction, from building up from previous losses. Can your children really win a war, if it comes to it?"

"That is a question I pray never has to be answered." Ozpin spoke the truth. Even as Ironwood left, discontent with the result of their talk, there was still a firm element of trust between the two. _But for how long? The longer he feels that the bigger plan is being kept from him, and that progress is not being made, the more I lose him._

Ozpin knew that he made a great many mistakes, there were more than enough for him to be judged for quite some time, if there was indeed an afterlife. Most of his life, since even his childhood, Ozpin had made the wrong decision that brought suffering towards others, whatever Peter told him during his darker moments. The sincerity of the man, however much people assumed his achievements were false, was enough to validate his status as a true Huntsman.

At times, he himself feared his own power/ Before, it had just been the fearsome might that came with his Semblance, that some thought made him more than human, and brought nightmares of him beginning to believe it himself, and his skill as a Huntsman. Now, he had to account his position as the spiritual leader of Huntsmen and Huntresses worldwide, as one of the few to truly remember the days before colour returned to the world, and as the headmaster of Beacon Academy.

He kept a close circle around him, even as the faces changed over the years, especially in chaotic times where the debate that a large democracy would bring would only slow decision-making. Some of his plans would have been opposed by the Councils of the world, and a part of him probably feared that the social gains of eighty years might have been lost to weeks of passion from the masses, when a crisis came. Most of his actions had been based on preventing the ghosts of the past from returning.

_Perhaps James is right._ Ozpin contemplated, alone in his office, with only the sounds of a hundred gears turning to sooth him. _Have I allowed my fear of the past returning cloud my judgement? Maybe a rapid and fierce strike would work? Or it would play into the hands of our enemies, hoping to draw us out?_

This was the hidden price of his line of work. A single right move, and you progressed forward and life goes on, but a single wrong move could bring about the death and despair of thousands, setting the people of Remnant back years in terms of progress. Certain close friends, some alive and some dead, had told him that he had some sort of problem, to constantly think back to his failures, and to count them as so many. Maybe they were right?

It didn't stop the images from running through his mind.

_A boy of ten, from a minor branch of a noble family who could date their legacy back centuries, was watching a beating. He had been told to wait outside the white room of a government building (for the former red colour inspired too much renegade emotion) and could see the outside world from the glass pane opposite his seat. A man with deer horns, the boy's mother telling him that it was a sign of Grimmspawn, was being beaten down and the boy was on the first floor. Even then, he knew that the laws forbade public expression of violence at this level, when they were in one of the expansion settlements._

_A simple knock on the window might disperse them, assuming it was the Public Order Brigade watching over them, yet the boy remembered his mother sharply warning him of punishment for drawing attention to himself, the silent threat of telling his father enough to quiet him. Not to mention that there was little chance of the Faunus being saved, it was more likely that he'd get another beating, and he was Grimmspawn, however pitiful he looked. That was what the boy told himself, as he stepped back and hummed, hoping to ignore the sound of fists meeting flesh._

_He should have been brave, a single harsh training session would have been worth saving a victim of cruelty_

_The boy, four years later, with some more muscle from his training at Signal, used the same excuse of fear to avoid joining on a protest. There was supposedly a march, even after they were banned five years ago, demanding civil rights and the sort, and a few of the older students were convincing others to join in. They never expected him to say yes, as a part of a family who rejoiced in the regime that controlled Vale now, just to not say anything. The boy promised he wouldn't, and took it for enough, content in doing some part of teenage rebellion._

_He should have joined in. His presence would have symbolised something, and he was worth more to his family than he knew, as he had been regarded as the prodigy of the family, almost strong enough to match their legends. The others might have been seen as influenced by him, and his punishment would not have been the beatings and floggings the student-protesters had gained for their trouble._

_Three years passed, and he was on a team with two who thought him weak, and a partner who was the only one to think him suited for leadership. At that time, many older students of Beacon were being recruited for a war, one that was focused on removing any sign of 'impurity' from the Kingdoms of Remnant, and served as a distraction from the failures against the Grimm. With the chance to serve early, the boy's siblings had signed up to fight, egged on by ageing parents who feared that their youngest was strong in only combat, and bid the boy goodbye._

_He should have tried to stop them, when Roderick and Mary said they would serve away from the battlefield if he asked. Instead, he didn't want their disappointment, and gained their corpses as a prize._

_Decades passed, and the boy became a man and a Huntsman. Apart from his partner, whose smiles became real, his teammates did not adapt well to the changing times and had adopted the life of a Reclaimer, extorting nomads and fighting Grimm until they died. Colour returned, mankind did not become Grimm in human skin, and the boy did not even mourn the fall of his family, their refusal to see reason dooming them. He believed himself to have gained a life of comfort, where nothing could go wrong._

_That was until his mission to the Grimmlands. He and Peter were to support an expedition to fight the most powerful of Grimm, one that took the form of a man, and had the name Ratking, or to at least gather the survivors and plan from there. The oceans of black ash and dust, littered with compounds of stone and mismatched metal, the domain of warlords that disappeared the further north you went, covered the bodies of the poor souls who died. If the Grimm did not disappear when slain, it would have been impossible to find the mangled corpses of those lost, the man having demanded to bury them where they were._

_By the time they reached the Ratking, they found a single corpse, amidst a burning fields of scattered glaciers, hundreds upon hundreds of Grimm half-trapped within them, their killing coming easy. The two found a fresh corpse, knowing that they had failed to save him in time. His left arm appeared as if it had been chewed on by a beast, chunks missing, with his armour in broken tatters, leaving two sets of claw marks on his body revealed, one gutting his chest open and the other his throat._

_Had he arrived earlier, had he not tried to act as if they had already died, he might have saved Peter Arc. Instead, he and his partner had to give one of the great heroes of their time, with his young grandson in the arms of his daughter-in-law, the corpse of his son._

_Seven years after, the man had somehow been the head of Signal Academy for three years, and had been told that he would be made Beacon headmaster shortly. One day, as he had planned to invite Peter to show the students some of the basics about Grimm, he had a call from the Council. The man calling was frantic, screaming of how the impossible happened, and how they had been told that the area had been cleared for years._

_Mountain Glenn, the proof that the new regime (as it had been when the project started) could build new cities instead of just pushing the borders of the old outwards, had been breached. The Grimm were flooding in, people were dying, and it would only be a matter of time until the Grimm followed the evacuees and made it to the Kingdom of Vale itself, potentially dooming one of the Four Kingdoms and risking the world entering into chaos._

_He had used his Semblance, to reduce the time taken to reach the command centre, and quickly took charge. His Beacon counterpart went with a group of Huntsmen and Huntresses, to first ensure that the children were taken out first, and to hold off the Grimm and even drive them out, until Ozpin heard of how he had been torn apart by Goliaths. Their mere presence had been a warning signal, and the man gave the orders that would haunt him for the next forty years._

_An extra hour and a half would be focused on evacuation, alongside preparation to detonate the tunnels, so that the way would be sealed. Some protested, others said nothing and expressed mourning in other ways, but it was done. Those sent couldn't be pulled back, for fear of panic, and the man guessed that they wouldn't have wished to have been anyway, or that was what he told himself to help him sleep better at night. The man rushed the detonation, after hearing that most took refuge in the underground shelters, and that all they could were evacuated._

_After hearing of how those brave souls lasted an extra hour, the man realised that he could have done more. Made the people aware that they were leaping into a tomb, extended the time by an hour, having taken it from the top of his head, anything to have at least one more of the people of Mountain Glenn who didn't make it out._

_Decades passed, as the man lived and directed the efforts of the world as best he could. He saw the growth of many fine Huntsmen and Huntresses, and they too wished to lighten the burden they saw him carry, warming his heart well. The teams, and rules he established for them, were not nearly as chaotic as he feared, and the world entered a period of true peace, the spectre of Mountain Glenn haunting them less and less. Some even found love and a family, such as one Summer Rose._

_He feared that the way she was married, a husband who was a teammate recovering from the abandonment of his partner, would harm their relationship, only it was his demands would strike at the family they made. As their children, of blood or otherwise, played with their excitable father, the man was telling Summer of how she had to be the one to do a certain mission, and that she had spent enough time in temporary retirement. He pressed buttons in her mind, to convince her to pick up her fencing blade and defend humanity._

_That manipulation was a dark side of him, one he both used and loathed, and should never have done. He should have sent others, a team, or even himself, whatever the risks were. Instead, he wounded an innocent family._

He drank from his mug, shaking out such thoughts, knowing that he often drowned in his reflections. _Merely a few of hundred of them._ Ozpin admitted to himself, when it came to his mistakes. _If only I could turn back time._

The thought, however dark the humour was, made him chuckle.

"Ozpin? Are you alright?" Glynda asked, not needing nor asking for permission to stroll into his office, her expression pained. "Was James being his usual self?" She asked, rolling her eyes at the actions of her once-partner.

"His current self." Ozpin replied, knowing that his past self would have never believed him, had he explained what became of Ironwood. "After all, I see little of the young man who constantly courted the fine leader of his team."

Glynda grumbled at that, clearly not enjoying the memory of his many attempts at courting.. "Who'd have thought I'd miss the old him."

"Indeed, I don't think we'll see his like again for a long time." Ozpin said, before a student entered his mind. "On second thought, there is one certain student who only differs in hair-colour."

There were elements. Their initial talent was not great, they had issues expressing themselves, some of their teammates wondered how he entered Beacon, they had a crush on the colder females of their team, and they themselves had self-esteem problems. That said, they possessed a sharp mind, had a great amount of potential, were stronger than they thought, and had an earnest heart and soul, the most important part of anyone calling themselves a Huntsman.

Glynda's eyes widened, having the same thoughts as Ozpin, before they shifted to a look of determination. "No matter who this enemy is, our true priority for the next three years is to make sure that Jaune Arc does not become another Ironwood."

"Of course." Ozpin agreed, taking a drink from his mug.

He wondered what great task Jaune Arc was getting up to.

* * *

"Oh dear." Jaune concluded, upon seeing another trade route destroyed, dooming Vacuo to Atlesian occupation.

In hindsight, the Atlesian blockade probably wasn't going to let that last railway survive, after Ruby rejected the offer of surrender given to her. The odds just weren't in favour of that poor girl, the latest disaster rendering her Emergency Supplies meaningless, and forcing Jaune's army into dealing with its currently outnumbered and out-gunned situation. The world of Remnant was not expected to last much longer, if things kept up.

"General Jaune!" A panicky voice cried out, the fear blatant in his voice. He saluted his commanding officer, before giving his report. "We have an incoming transmission from Empress Weiss, we're doomed aren't we?"

"What kind of thinking is that, Colonel Jaune?" He asked, having to adopt a persona of strength, if he didn't want the soldiers before him to break out in panic

"Yours, sir! We're just your imagination running wild, while we're getting annihilated in this game!" The subordinate replied, Jaune realising that the both of them looked exactly the same outside of their uniform, right down to the fact that they had their own Crocea Mors tied to them.

Looking at the bridge itself, Jaune realised that he was commanding a whole army of copies, which did bring up questions of egotism. There were Jaunes in military outfits, and a few in janitorial clothing, while a good few were basically him with twintails, dresses, and boobs. What united all of them, was that the entire lot had entered into a panicked frenzy and were screaming for their mothers to save them. The whole thing felt like the start to a Spruce Willis film, in that moment between the terrorist threat and Spruce Willis arriving onto the scene.

It felt like a big-budget film as well, which was impressive, considering that he was playing a past edition of some old game he never played before. _Wow, I really know how to spruce up the image of failure._

Having that in mind, Jaune decided to get his defeat over with. "Well, might as well see what she wants." He muttered to himself, pressing a conveniently-placed button to open up the screen that revealed the ruthless commander of the Atlesian forces that trampled over the world. "Weiss Schnee, this is a plea, leave my people be."

"W-Was that rhyme intentional?" Weiss asked, as her gallant and terrifying form was revealed, mostly looking like a long-flowing version of her usual clothes, only with a cap to show her military rank.

She might have looked intimidating, with the wine Jaune imagined her dictator-form to have, and the classical design of her bridge. Only, his accidental rhyme seemed to catch her off-guard, ruining the militaristic image she might have projected, rather than an almost worried teenage girl.

"If I say yes, will you spare us?" Jaune asked, the cold scowl answering his question for him. "Then, no. It was a mistake that'll haunt me to my grave."

"Jaune, you can't surrender. She'll be two turns from conquering Remnant!" Ruby cried out, another screen revealing the haggard warrior. She had been at war with her once-BFF for many game-years, keeping the flame of Vale alive, and Jaune could understand her fear of a Weiss-ruled Remnant.

He had a greater responsibility, however.

"I'm not letting the good people of Vacuo die for the sake of a last stand, Super-Cool-Commander Ruby. Promise me that you'll treat them well." He demanded, shifting his look from Ruby to Weiss. They may have been imaginary people, lacking even a figurine to represent them, but he had been trusted with their safety and refused to let them down.

"Wait, Jaune," Another voice cried out, from Weiss' screen, revealing itself to be from Pyrrha. "Weiss is a master of deception, you can't let her fool you with empathy." She warned, the servant's dress she wore standing as proof of that.

In the early days, Weiss was just as lost in the game as Jaune had been, and it almost cost her the Kingdom of Atlas. That was until she started to weep and Pyrrha, leading the armies of Mistral, took pity and spared Weiss, instead working with her to fend off Ruby's relentless assault, not expecting her new ally to have ever contemplated betrayal. Using espionage and sabotage, Weiss swooped in and swiftly occupied Mistral, taking its armies for her own.

Now the children were made to needlessly work in mines, and Pyrrha's people were forced to work as servants, contributing everything they had to Weiss' unyielding war machine. Jaune could imagine a whole load of Pyrrha's on Weiss' flagship, made to mop floors, endure harassment from the Weiss' (especially after that Paris guy mentioned _that_ rumour), and even Pyrrha Prime being made Weiss' personal gofer.

"Why couldn't we play Oligopoly? This never happens there." Jaune openly cried, putting his head in his hands, realising what cruel nightmare this game brought upon them.

"It's banned on campus. Besides, it's lame and boring, you don't do anything and then everyone gets mad at you when you buy stuff." Ruby replied, frowning at that suggestion. That was so like the leader of Team Jasper, staying loyal to their game of choice, even when the chips were down.

"Look, I am giving you a fair offer. Accept vassalage, or be destroyed with your nation." Weiss commanded, before laughing maniacally. If there was one thing that Jaune was impressed by, it was the roleplaying that Weiss managed to engage herself in, even when it was her first time.

With that, Jaune decided that it'd be better to surrender now. Either way, Weiss had already won the game, and Jaune had no idea what cards in his hand would be able to get him out of the situation he was in. Maybe someone like Daisy or Joan, his sisters were better at games like these, but not poor Jaune, who hadn't been able to get a grasp on the game like Weiss and Pyrrha (until her enslavement).

Besides, he might even become an equal with time.

"Jaune. Don't accept the rule of the Ice Queen." A ghostly wail commanded, Jaune feeling it coming from behind him. He turned to see the person who might be able to save him and Ruby from getting completely curb-stomped in this game.

"Yang!" He cried out. The eldest sister of the Ro-Xia-Yang/Ruby family had taught Weiss and Pyrrha how to play, while Ruby had a bit less luck in trying to guide Jaune through the game, letting him appreciate how hard dancing probably was for Ruby. Blake was normally there to make Yang study, only it was Ren who cut in this time, their leader being strangely apathetic, which Jaune was now very thankful for. "I need your help, only you can possibly save us."

"Heed my words, Jaune, and you can win this battle." Yang instructed, her ghostly image placing a hand on Jaune's shoulder, before squeezing very tightly. "Stop sucking."

"Huh?"

"You need to do what you've been doing this whole time, and then do the opposite. I have never seen such great hands played so badly, nor have I seen such crappy use of soldiers. Their fate truly was grim." Yang said bluntly, her puns even feeling more vicious.

Pun, tried to gain Grimm units by settling fortress on Grimmlands, was slaughtered by Weiss' androids.

"Why does that mechanic even exist?" Jaune asked in despair. In what world did having units on the Grimmlands, by the north-west of the map, allow you to summon Grimm units? In the end, he was almost thankful that Weiss' androids forced him out, if it hadn't meant that she got the units instead.

"The fifth edition's better." Ruby chipped in.

"Also, ignore Ruby. Her willingness to nerf Vale for a few more cards, figurines, and player amount shows her immaturity." Yang added, earning a grumble from her sister. She ignored it, however, in favour of looking Jaune in the eye with determination. "You can win with this hand, now show me your plan."

Feeling inspired, Jaune followed her instructions and looked carefully at his hand. He needed to break the blockade and meet up with Ruby, and then launch a mad charge at Weiss' production bases in Atlas. Jaune knew his warriors would blast through the Atlesian cold, with their natural hazards bonus, and Ruby's all-rounder troops could hold on Weiss' machine army, so all he needed to do was break the blockade. He used all of his mental might, to try and gain victory. _Come on, you stopped criminals on the docks, you can win a war against Atlas._

Jaune pretended to not notice how ridiculous that sounded.

"I was going to give up and live under Weiss' regime," Jaune said, sounding downcast, before inspiration took hold of his voice. "But I can still use this!"

To Yang, wanting confirmation, he pointed to Charge Into Unknown. It was a desperate card designed to cause heavy losses to an otherwise winning opponent, matching Ruby's description of it as a friendship-wrecker, with a lot of risk as it forced him on using his remaining units. If he rolled four or below, he'd lose the units he had with little damage to Weiss, five to eight would have mutual destruction, but a nine to twelve would give a victory and allow his army to smash through Weiss' blockade and meet up with Ruby.

"Jaune, do you know what this means?" Yang asked, seeing his card. Jaune beamed, as he noticed the upbeat tone of her voice. "You've just replaced the second-worst thing you could do, with the worst thing you could do!" She declared, keeping that tone, even as Jaune's hopes were smashed with her words.

It was then that he remembered that Ruby was also facing a blockade, preventing her from rescuing him, as Vale's airships were numerous but low quality when faced with Atlas and Mistral. Destroying his own blockade, even with a victory, would just have his forces be butchered by the blockade on Ruby and only delay Weiss' triumph by one turn.

"In my defence, Pyrrha's the only person outside my family to say I'm a natural leader." Jaune said, looking anywhere but Yang's beaming stare, representing his failure.

"It's true, this is just your first game." Pyrrha added, somewhat undermined by Jaune's fantasy having painted her as giving Weiss a mass-_bad thoughts bad thoughts!_

"Don't worry, Jaune, I shall save Vacuo." Yang promised, bringing Jaune's hopes up. "By removing the ineffectual regime and replacing it with my own." Only to destroy them, as he imagined some kind of bloody coup against him.

And so, the reign of Jaune Arc ended with his execution, landing him back to reality. He didn't expect Yang to be able to join the game, although he thought he heard Yang mumbling about something. "I thought you were studying?"

"Yang kept commenting on your game, so Blake let her move on." Pyrrha replied, having already been knocked out by Weiss' heartless trickery.

Come to think of it, Blake had become not-bothered about anything, outside of a few topics. She didn't even look that engaged in reading, which was her number one favourite thing, and she didn't even try to get Nora to last more than five minutes before taking a nap, which kind of left Ren to try and pick up the slack. He didn't show it, but Jaune could tell that his bro wasn't happy with what was going on.

Looking back on the game, after a single turn, Jaune noticed that Yang had somehow managed to smash the blockades and had already met up with Ruby, the two of them threatening Atlas together. Weiss had chosen to mourn the loss of her victory by weeping into Pyrrha's arms, who seemed fine with that role, although Jaune was left to wonder exactly how Yang managed to pull it off. That was, until the arrival of a certain old friend.

"'Sup losers, what's going on?" Sun greeted, walking into the little group that Teams Jasper and Burgundy had going on, only he had a friend with him this time. This one was tall, had blue hair with goggles on his head, and had a red vest over a tie and shirt, whereas Sun was happier just showing his abs to everyone, and making a certain potential Huntsman totally not jealous of that body.

"Hey Sun, I'm just about to loot, pillage and generally ravage Vale." Yang explained, her words horrifying Jaune.

"That's cool," Sun replied, only for his expression to become confused, matching Ruby's, as he registered her words."Wait."

"Yang, I thought we were united against Weiss!" Ruby cried out, tears running down her eyes. "Sisters together." She mewled, holding out her right pinkie finger.

"Yeah, just under my reign of benevolent terror." Yang coldly shrugged, as she revealed another card from her hand. "Smugglers of Wind Path."

"Pretty cool," Sun replied, as Ruby wept and rushed to Pyrrha's arms alongside Weiss. "Guys, this is Neptune, the old friend I was talking about yesterday. Neptune, these guys are Yang, Blake, Ren, Nora, Ruby, Pyrrha, Jaune, and Ice Queen."

"Hey." Jaune said, similar words being the general greeting that those who weren't asleep or crying gave, although Weiss muttered something about everyone calling her that.

"Sun mentioned you guys a lot, in a pretty weird story." Neptune said, before looking right at Jaune and wincing. "Did you have to go for the tail?"

"Look, Neptune, sure some of them almost tore my tail off, encouraged others to do so, based my personality on a few seconds, and put me in a deathhold when I tried to save someone, but they're really cool." Sun realised that he was losing Neptune. "Me and the guy who grabbed my tail even tried a few peppers."

Jaune recalled that day, having been dared to try the legendary Grimm Red Pepper, said to be too hot to even touch without proper protection. Sun had tagged along, eager to try new things, and the two of them managed to do the impossible and consume the whole pepper without spitting it out, or having to go to the infirmary due to internal burning, Ren had declined on 'not wanting to die' grounds. Personally, Jaune thought it did wonders for his friendship with Sun.

Even if he still tasted burning.

"If you're cool with it," Neptune said with a shrug, before looking around nervously. "Should we really be doing this in a library."

"Oh no, Beacon's different." Ren replied, sounding oddly upset, which was always weird to hear. "Here, libraries are for shouting and sleeping, not studying and reading, and not only that, but pancakes are apparently something you can have for dinner."

"Pancakes for dinner?" Nora asked, hope glimmering in her eyes.

"No, Nora." He almost spat out those words, causing Nora to frown and mumble. This was something that Jaune assumed was a long-standing dispute between the two and didn't want to get involved.

"You see what being a nerd does?" Sun jokingly asked, softly elbowing Neptune.

"Intellectual." Neptune replied, before he moved over to Weiss, who left Pyrrha's arms and was looking at her hand, and did the worst thing he could have possibly done. "I'm guessing Ice Queen isn't your real name, Snow Angel?" He asked, clearly hitting on her, as Jaune waited for the crushing rej-

"I'm Weiss, it's nice to meet someone with...intellectual interests as well." She answered, almost sounding interested.

Jaune was slightly completely horrified, Snow Angel had been a nickname he tried to win Weiss over with, and failed miserably. Neptune did it, and Weiss was almost all over him, which brought up the worrying prospect that Jaune's crush was into another guy she met a few seconds ago, one of the worst things possible for him.

_Calm down, just follow Daisy's advice, and don't be jelly._ Jaune's sisters were girls so they knew what they were talking about, even if they all gave different advice to him. He chose to just watch, and make sure that things didn't suddenly develop way too fast.

"What's with the ring?" Neptune asked, pointing to the silver ring on Weiss' right hand. In what seemed like a rare thing, Neptune looked worried. "Is there someone-"

"Oh this is just a small thing I have with my partner, isn't that right, Ruby?" Weiss replied, not sounding the least bit worried, focusing her eyes on Neptune's chest.

"Yeah, a small thing." Ruby said, which backed Weiss up. On the other hand, Jaune could tell when his team leader was upset, and the puffed-out cheeks and frown definitely showed that Ruby wasn't happy with Weiss and Neptune flirting so openly either, or she was unhappy with Yang burning the Kingdom of Vale to the ground. It was one of those.

Sun had already moved towards Blake, trying to talk to her, only for her to then just get up and walk away, leaving him alone. Ren and Nora both seemed worried about what they just saw, and Sun himself looked a bit rejected as well, Jaune guessing it was a Faunus thing, if that didn't sound totally stupid and racist. Yang looked worried, seeing her partner trail off, but moved her focus back onto taking Mistral from Weiss.

Weiss herself looked near the point of despair, having seen imminent victory turn to likely defeat so fast, when Neptune sat next to her. "Maybe I can give it a go? We can be a team."

Jaune couldn't think of how things could be worse, seeing Weiss accept Neptune's offer. In a matter of seconds, Jaune's romancing attempts had been blown out of the water by that Neptune guy, and now he had to watch his nation take on Atlas being controlled by two players, even if one was being guided by the other. Taking a quick look at Neptune's figure, he wondered if Weiss was into guys with large muscles or something like that.

He chose to take the advice his mother probably would give him, if she were here now, and look on the bright side. He was already doing a lot of training with Pyrrha, although he felt like he needed to ask her about what happened with him, Nora, and Yang during that food fight, and that could help him gain observable muscles to impress Weiss with. Not to mention that a few of his sisters were in Vale, so there was some free advice on getting girls there.

He could outsmart Roman Torchwick, and managed to probably-scar him. Compared to that, working with his sisters to win the heart of Weiss Schnee would be easy as pie, in eating it rather than the actual process of making it. Which was harder than his mother made it look, taking hours of practice to make right and proper. He was getting distracted, he could beat a criminal, he could win the heart of a girl.

Speaking of the devil, he wondered what that guy was doing now, after that fight on the docks.

* * *

"We hope you understand that our identities, even now, must not be revealed." One of the five screens said, none of which Roman bothered to try and guess if any of their number were from that little meeting with Cinder.

"Of course, I do. After all, Neo is actually the Schnee heiress, I've been paid off by the SDC the whole time." He explained, as his sidekick waved to the screens, ignoring the phantom pain on his chest. The wound on his chest had mostly healed, other than a faint outline of the scratch, but it could still sting like a bitch.

"This is not the time for jokes, when we are in mutual danger." The voice from the middle screen growled, Roman hoping that the guy had been elected to be their little representative. Talking to the Commanders of the White Fang was a lot more tedious then it sounded.

"Oh, mutual danger? You mean you've guessed that I don't take being sold down the river well?" He asked, still feeling sore about that whole thing. "I know Neo's good at killing you guys, but I didn't think she was that good, to make you guys try to get rid of me."

Roman could guess that none of them appreciated his little joke. Typical. They all knew that there could be no splinter group, unless they wanted questions to be asked, so the radicals who hated the very idea of working with humans had to be dealt with. Only, they needed to go through the ceremony of delaying, weeping, and having to be made to make the call, allowing for the challengers to be taken out in a verity of ways.

He was more than sure that they sent some of their own in, something Taurus was one of them, but they latched onto Roman using Neo and made him the big bad meanie.

_Why does no one ever appreciate the work I do?_ He pretended to wonder, before getting back to business. "Look, you said that I should talk with you, if I wanted to get out rich and alive, so let's talk about it. The second is pretty much a requirement, but the first is kind of a big deal. You know, so I haven't wasted nearly a year of my life?"

"Allow me to begin things with a question." The voice answered, the old-timer's age showing. "When do you think Cinder Fall will betray us?" He asked, his fellow Commanders remaining silent.

He guessed that the silence from the five of them was meant to scare him, or create some kind of creepy mood that would make Roman more deferential towards them. If that was their plan, it failed badly. Having a plan that was dependent on him being an idiot was one that was never going to succeed. Deciding to take some revenge, Roman suddenly flung his hands to his face and gasped in exaggerated fright, as he could hear the gentle sound of Neo's hand meeting her face, probably taking up the same trick.

"Really? Cinder might betray us?" A look of horror was present, directed right at the monitor. "Next you'll be telling me that the dirt doesn't taste like chocolate, or that Neo needs a high-chair in most bars." The scowl from behind was worth it, for Roman.

Taking a chance to look behind him, he could see his young companion folding her arms and looking to the side, her cheeks looking slightly more pudgy with her pouting face, and her eyes had changed colour again. It was something Roman knew she didn't like it when people pointed it out, but he thought she looked adorable when she did that, almost making him forget that her body-count was far higher than his, and that she could kill him at any time.

"Be serious, our lives are at risk." The Commander warned, not liking Roman's refusal to gobble up his bullshit. "What do we truly know of Cinder Fall, of her minions, where they came from, what they want, and even who they serve?" He asked, the questions like bullet-fire, if they were really crappy bullets.

"Cinder? Our Cinder Fall? Working for someone?" Roman replied, worrying if he was talking to a complete idiot, or someone with memory problems. He turned his head back to his partner, letting the joke carry on. "Neo, get the basketball. It looks like you might be able to play after all."

In response to his eager voice, Neo turned her head up at Roman's words, never liking the short-jokes.

"I'll buy you ice cream later. Forgive me?" He asked, half-kidding, as he returned to the matter at hand. "Anyway, you think I haven't asked these questions? The woman showed up one day, killed my partners, and then told me that I work for her now. Not something that calms the mind."

"Our involvement came from similar circumstances. Your associate merely killed the stragglers, not our strongest, but our smartest." The Commander said, only Roman wondered if they were just covering up how badly their friends got beaten down.

"They said no to Cinder, how smart were they?" Roman asked, wondering if there was merit in that old theory about Faunus having smaller brains.

Instead of an angry rant, a bitter chuckle was the Commander's response. "Is this how you live? Sharp words, and a belief of gliding over all, to cover your weakness in the face of greater things? What a pitiful existence."

"And trying to wipe out humanity, what an insane life." He shot back, no longer in the mood to play games. "If we're playing philosopher's, I can do that tomorrow. Let's get down to business."

"You think we've done less work in Atlas and Mistral because they struck harder than before?" The Commander's use of questions as answers was rapidly becoming Roman's least favourite thing ever. "All that has done is provide us with a population ready to fight, if we were allowed to harness it." He said those last few words with a lot more anger than before.

He did have a point. Roman knew people who cracked when the threat of violence showed up, and when it was clear that their options for action were limited, and then there were the other guys who saw it as a challenge, those who got into the game because they were treated like criminals in the first place, and those who got mad about this or that grievance with society. With Faunus in Atlas and Mistral feeling like caged dogs, why wouldn't they start thinking about biting the hand that rarely fed them?

_All they've been told to do is attack other groups, and become the only militant Faunus group left._ Roman thought, trying to piece together what the plan actually was, with what he knew. "She wants you to become the symbol of Faunus resistance. Militant, moderate, everything in between. Only she also wants you in Vale, where things are rather boring."

"We cannot work out the motive, until we heard about the small fleet that Schnee's dog brought in." The Commander seemed unhappy with the fleet and the implied presence of armed forces with guns and licences to kill. It was a feeling that Roman shared. "Our hope is that Vale is to be the start of our revolution, as it was when the totalitarian aristocracies fell eighty years ago, only this time we remove the true enemy."

"What do you really think?" Roman asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No clue." Another voice, this one younger and with more energy than her fellow Commander. "The worst is that she's another agent of Schnee, tasked with uniting the Faunus, and then crushing them into subservience once more."

Oh lord, these Faunus would blame the Schnees for the rain, if they could get away with it. He had contacts who did work for the Schnees, mostly keeping the workers from unionising and pulling off retaliations against the White Fang, and this wasn't their kind of thing, when the risks to their stocks were this high. Small-time leg-breakers in distant mines was one thing, large-scale robbery and inflating your own prices was something completely different.

That didn't mean that the Schnee-White Fang conflict wasn't good for business. Wars in the shadows like these were always good for the competent criminal, who could do things that weren't legally or ethically moral enough to keep consumers happy.

_Some methods aren't too pretty, when put under the light. That's we're there for._ Roman thought to himself, although that theory didn't explain why someone like him would be needed. "Got any ideas, Neo?" He asked, hoping for an outside perspective.

Neo, having looked like she forgave him, nodded her head and directed his attention towards the Scroll in his pocket. The sinister smile on her face meant something, and Roman tried to understand what she meant by pointing to the Scroll, when he remembered the message he had received very recently. Everything came together in his head, creating a very cruel picture, which the Commanders of the White Fang would fine pretty interesting.

"I don't suppose she's told you about the details of our next mission, has she?" He asked, finding joy in the reactions he was about to see.

"We are to move some of our men to South-East Vale, I'm guessing to Mountain Glenn." The Commander said uneasily, probably guessing where this was going. "Some of us are old enough to know people from there, or at least those who got out. Very few were Faunus." He almost whispered, sounding almost sad about a bunch of dead people from the past.

"Ruin the surprise, why don't you?" Roman had no sympathy for those who tried to take his spotlight, and moved quickly to reclaim it. "Did she mention that the Dust is finally coming into play? Yes, we haven't just been stealing it to annoy Schnee."

"Some of our men think we're using it for detonation, ever since the docks incident, thanks to the act of a certain person." Roman didn't know exactly what they were expecting. He had to improvise, something generally advised when someone put a blade to your neck.

"Basically that. Only we're blowing up the tunnel." He said, quickly sharing a joint grin with Neo.

It was natural to say that the five before him did not take the news well. They quickly figured out the plan was probably something along the lines of dropping the Grimm in Vale at a time where everyone had their defences down and were exposed, that time being the Vytal Festival. Everyone would be too busy watching some kids fighting each other, and the sheer panic would draw in Grimm of all shapes and sizes.

In a single day, the Kingdom of Vale would be the closest to its destruction since the days of the Grimm Wars.

The White Fang, for all their actions against smaller militant groups, liked to think that they were fighting for the Faunus. A plan that would probably kill a lot of their kind was not going to be popular, with Roman and Neo being ignored, as the Commanders all cursed Cinder, before then bickering amongst themselves about not fighting her, whether they should try and save Faunus, if they should work with the plan, and even if they were opposed on moral (not unleashing a threat where a lot of Faunus lived) or practical grounds.

_Freedom's no good if you're dead, or fighting doom incarnate. And it's never good when no one's there to d-_ A thought came to him, a single glance at Neo showed that she was thinking the same thing. Both of them were thinking that they had an idea of Cinder's plan. _Now that's a good assistant, always on the same wave-length._

"What if the plan is that the Grimm attack, and everything burns?" Roman asked, bringing the debate to a silence once more. "Sounds pretty bad, right? Only, who will be the one group prepared for the battle, to fight off these evil beasts? Who'll look foolish with their war machines, and who'll look the monsters for denying these brave warriors their rights?" He asked, his voice one of a salesman giving the pitch of his life.

"The White Fang?" The Commander asked, taking his place as the representative again. "Do not think that you are the only one to be denied certain information. We have been instructed to only give you a handful of veterans, to command the army of green-fighters that you'll be leading." He revealed, ruining Roman's good mood.

Green recruits were only really good at grunt work and holding off cops, when it came to the many heists that Roman and Neo had to pull together. If they were in a battle against the Grimm, it wouldn't be pretty, and Roman didn't think that Cinder had enough faith in his and Neo's ability to assume that the two could fight off a never-ending swarm of the things. That, of course, meant that they were back to guessing what the hell the plan was meant to be.

"You realise what this means?" The Commander spoke with anger, clearly not liking the knowledge they had. "It means that she wants to murder our people for reasons she doesn't trust us with."

"And?" Roman asked, finding his interest waning.

"What reason do you have that makes you so confident of your survival?" The Commander asked, leaving the criminal to be in the rare state of lacking a comeback.

_Shit, they have a point._ Roman was kind of doomed, guessing that he was expected to find his own way of blowing the hole on the train, without dying. He was a smart guy, which meant that the option of forming an alliance was clear. "We, naturally, as parties against death and destruction directed at us, are working together to keep each other safe." He said, making his offer clear.

"Keep our people alive, Torchwick, please. Our victory, the sacrifices we've made, the friends we've been made to lose, must mean something." The Commander almost sounded his age, probably in his sixties or something, and lacked the former strength it had. "We shall be sending the best we are able to, without attracting possible attention from Cinder."

"A mole exists, someone close to us has been telling Cinder of our moves, and whether they match with her vision. Adam has already created a shortlist of traitors, while on his reserve mission." The only other Commander to speak to Roman added, sounding as if she was confident that this little mole would be found out soon.

"Ah, so I imagine the aftermath, with everything going to shit for the big guys, we'll be seeing a purge?" Roman asked, knowing how these things worked in criminal organisations, having been a member of a fair few.

"We have had enough purges, we shall simply isolate and observe further, until we find that tensions have fallen." The Commander shuffled in his seat, Roman almost hearing him lean forward. "Has Cinder successfully infiltrated Beacon?"

"She and the both of her brats." Roman replied, the fact clear to both parties. "She has friends in Mistral."

It was obvious. Schools like Beacon and Haven didn't just have students pop out of nowhere, and there were often a lot of complex systems involved when trying to get people into those schools, even as cleaners. Most infiltrations were just falsifying transcripts to apply for entrance, like Dickface Arc had, so Cinder must have known someone if she was able to pull-off being labelled a second-year student, especially without other students raising a fuss.

Life wasn't like the movies. You couldn't just wear a chef's uniform and be called that, most people in a building worked together for some time, and any actual criminal who knew their stuff aimed less to merge with a crowd that knew them to be different, and more moving around without being seen. That, or getting someone on the inside to work with them, was the main way to infiltrate structures like these. So Cinder's past seemed to have done her a favour.

Not to mention the new toy that she somehow gained, having all but a bowtie for Roman.

The combat schools in Mistral and Atlas were less independent than in Vale and Vacuo, so trying to narrow down this friend would be a tricky task. This friend could be in the school, government, military, anywhere for all Roman knew, and knowing the friend would mean that there would be a clue about Cinder's plan as a whole. Not knowing meant that he was still at risk, which was something he really didn't want.

_Now the question is, where did this friend come from?_ Roman, against his better judgement, decided to tell a joke. "I don't suppose any of Mistralian high-ups are into bestiality? Pillow-talk might help us figure out her plan."

He could feel the hatred coming from the monitors. Neo didn't seem happy either, although that was likely to be more due to not wanting to risk the little alliance she had going to break apart, to which Roman would admit to caring little about. So far, not much had been accomplished, and winging it had done him pretty well so far, if they were going to cry over a few barbed comments. He said his bit, now it was their turn.

"We have been unable to track Cinder Fall, beyond meeting with Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black a number of years ago. She simply came from nowhere, according to records." The Commander said, after a period of simmering anger. "We have theories."

"I need to know them," Roman said, taking the silence as a negative. "If we're going to work together, we need to talk together. I've said all I can say, now it's your turn." He warned, finding that his patience was rapidly decreasing.

"We assume, and can only assume, that she is a native of either Mistral or Vale. Her poise, tone and pronunciation of words suggests an upper-class upbringing, which could mean that she is disaffected with the status quo."

"Wow, such knowledge." Roman said, before taking the chance to mock his 'partners'. "Now that we've told you what our information means, we can work something out."

"If she is not an agent of them, she could be party to a fallen noble family, last survivor of such, or supports a restoration of what was rightfully destroyed eighty years ago." The Commander was probably scowling as he spoke. "We could merely be the villain she needs, to force in a change of ways, if someone is not using her for the same purpose."

That'd be depressing. If someone was able to control Cinder and force her to follow their plans, then they were probably powerful enough to take him out without even having to blink, which wasn't exactly great news for him if that was the case.

"All that we can do, for the time being, is ensure that we minimise casualties, and keep suspicion off from the idea of us speaking to one another." The Commander advised, speaking directly to Roman. "Once you meet with our agents, establish an alliance, and contact us through them and them alone. Trust no one else."

"How do I know that you won't sell me out?" He asked, wondering if they were going to just run and cry to Cinder.

"Why shouldn't we ask the same question?"

"Fair point," Roman admitted, before adopting a tired tone of voice. "Don't die, I'd hate to think that we've been caught already."

The monitors shut down, and left the room in silence, for which he was very thankful to have at last. Just him, and Neo, alone in a room to gather their thoughts and ensure that everything went as smoothly for them as it possibly could.

"Well, that was certainly an experience." He judged, turning to speak with his assistant. "When are the agents supposed to arrive?"

Neo pointed to the clock, and smiled deviously, letting her silence mock her boss. _One day, you will explain why you don't talk. And I will laugh, even if the story is really sad and I look like a shit._

"The delivery of certain equipment should be arriving shortly, much like you." Neo frowned at that, not being a happy bunny. "Either stop being four foot tall in heels, or I keep on with the jokes."

The girl disappeared at that, which gave Roman some time to gather his thoughts and try to get a grip on the situation. Admittedly, this was a whole new world for him and he was basically taking stabs in the dark, yet he thought he was going a decent enough job for someone in his position, and he'd like to see someone like Junior get this far.

From where he was, he just had to first make sure that both he and Neo survived this whole adventure they found themselves in, the second priority would be to make a boatload of Lien to spend on their wildest dreams, and everything else was in a jumble, in terms of importance. He'd like to figure out Cinder's master plan, and tweaking the nose of authority was always fun, but surviving and having a lot of money was the main thing, by the end of all this.

_Until then,_ Roman thought to himself, as he merrily strolled along. _I have a speech to start writing._

* * *

Blake sat on her bed, her arms wrapped around her knees sitting on bed, having stayed in a curled up position since she left the library for the comfort of BRNY's dormitory. She had always taken up this kind of position when she felt that something bad was going to happen, having started back in her White Fang days, only she had no desire for Adam to come and comfort her as he once did, for a variety of reasons.

She had ignored the potential threat of the White Fang during most of semester break, having been comforted by the seemingly comforting end to the battle on the docks. Only, with news reports about robberies, spikes in the price of Dust, she had come to remember that they were still out there with Torchwick, breaking the law and planning something awful. The arrival of the Atlesian military had only made the memories stronger, as Blake recalled her past experiences with them.

_I used to fear them, then hate them._ Blake thought to herself, almost laughing at how things had changed. _Now I'm just thankful that something is happening, instead of just waiting for them to act first._

She thought more would have been done by now, that a taskforce under the direction of Ozpin might have made things far more difficult for Torchwick and the White Fang, and that their failures would create some kind of divide once the latter got tired of the former's racism. Maybe even things going back to normal, rather than Blake being attentive to every report that talked about the rise in crime from this little alliance of theirs.

Only nothing had been done, and Blake was left with a creeping feeling inside of her. It had been an instinct honed inside of her over the years, after her time in the White Fang, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen and that they needed to stop it somehow.

At her darkest moments, when her team was asleep and she wondered about the campus, Blake wondered how much she contributed to the machinations of their plan. How many missions with Adam were leading up to the eventual result of their scheme to do something? The lack of any idea of what was being planned had also ate away at Blake, haunting her dreams, as she feared that she had played a vital part in bringing it to fruition.

The whole thing reminded her of the interview she had after the docks, everyone had been questioned by Goodwitch, but Ozpin was the one giving out questions.

_How exactly did you acquire your skills?_

She only gave a half-lie, having spent a long time outside of the Four Kingdoms. Her childhood was one spent in settlements like Palate, Yang's home of Patch, and a wide variety of other places, constantly moving about with people like Adam and his family, not really having many roots until they finally moved to a Kingdom. Blake had apparently lost her parents when she was a baby, and had been raised by family friends, mostly acting as a large group who made it hard for people who weren't fond of Faunus to try and bully around.

The life of a nomad, wandering about and setting up where the conditions were right, was not the life she had. She had been raised in mostly peaceful villages, who handed over produce and taxes in exchange for the protection of the Kingdoms and the service of the Huntsmen and Huntresses stationed there, to fight off the Grimm wherever they were. All part of the slow expansion projects, trying to adjust for population. Blake herself knew that she had to learn how to fight, with a lot of bandits waiting out in the less protected roads between Kingdoms and these settlements.

Adam had been her first friend, and her best one when the family friends went their separate ways and the family plus her settled down. He and her were inseparable in a lot of ways, especially in their anger over the many forms of discrimination that they faced from humanity, whether it was the price being slightly higher in markets, being rejected for looking 'scruffy', and even the barbed comments about them being 'Grimmspawn' and other such names.

That was how the two got involved in the White Fang.

_Rather convenient timing, reaching the docks at that moment._

She knew the trick he was pulling, and merely told the truth. They followed Team JWPR, after Sun overheard them, and that was where they found the White Fang and Torchwick, and their explanation was a lot less controversial than Blake's past. Ozpin couldn't prove her wrong, so he just moved onto the next question.

_Some of those we've questioned have had, so to say, revealing testimonies. I won't force you to reveal your ears to the world, but I hope I am not being intrusive in asking why you use the ribbon._

At first the ribbon was a way to move unseen, taken up in missions where stealth was necessary. A lot of humans just looked at the animal features and judged her on them, so merely covering them was more than enough to make them think that she was just another human with a fashion statement. It used to make her furious, but it turned out to be fairly useful for her. When the White Fang made Faunus something to be feared, Blake used it to go out in public without parents pulling their children away, now wanting them harmed.

It hurt her just as much as the old warnings of fleas. When she reached Beacon, as well as a bit of paranoia over being recognised, Blake had wanted to be seen as who she was instead of what she was, and the distance from a still fresh-past made it all the more appealing.

She was afraid that Ozpin knew something, when he adopted a slightly more aggressive tone.

_Blake, I am your teacher, and I hope to also be an area of guidance. I am also a Huntsman, and will do everything I can to protect those under my charge._

It was likely both a warning, if she was a threat, and a statement of fact if he thought she was being threatened by an outside source into silence. It only took a few seconds for her to figure out that Ozpin either didn't know about her past, or judged that she wasn't a threat to the safety of BRNY or other students, which was a great relief for her.

_Is there anything that you want to tell me?_

He sounded as if he was almost pleading, his voice being nothing like the stories she had been told about the man, said to be one of the strongest Huntsmen in the history of Remnant. Maybe he knew that Blake was hiding some kind of secret, and had experience with having stuff like this go bad, but she doubted that any of his past students had a past that was anything like Blake's.

After having said no, Blake was let go, and felt enough relief that she had mostly pushed the events of the night outside of her mind. Now she was beginning to wonder if she should have used the semester break to do something, or if she should have said something, that might have made Ozpin take more forceful action on the whole thing.

Right now, Blake Belladona was just feeling confused about the whole thing.

"That was bullshit!" A familiar voice cried out, as Yang opened the door and seemed pretty upset about something. Blake guessed that her partner was unable to accomplish her goal of bringing Remnant under her despotic reign.

"We know, Yang." Ren said, looking like he had to endure a whole rant from Yang, who took that board game of hers more seriously than any of her studies.

"That new guy has a mind-reading Semblance, it's the only explanation." The fiery blonde declared, pointing to the ceiling. It almost made Blake laugh out loud.

"Yang, right now, you're like a lemon." Nora said, looking rarely serious. "Totally sour."

"That was a good one." Both girls high-fived, as Blake moved to leave the room. Her team looked to be enjoying themselves, and she was pretty sure that they wouldn't want their team leader ruining the mood with her current state.

She had just passed Nora, when she felt something wrap around her right arm and she and Nora were suddenly moving around in a circle, the quick nature of it making Blake dizzy. She was finally let go, when she finally noticed that it was Nora who had been singing during their little dance. "And around you go."

Being taken by surprise, Blake managed to avoid looking completely silly by not collapsing onto her bed. Instead, she managed to stand tall and look at the team, and could tell by the look in their eyes that they definitely noticed that she had been in a different mood from before. Her time as a team leader had sharpened her instincts, when it came to personal stuff like this.

"Blake, we can't help but note that you've become moody and isolated from others." Ren said, his voice coated with concern.

"And in other news, bears poop in the woods." Yang muttered, before she became serious. "That said, you've kind of taken it up to eleven, like when you blew Sun off."

"Yeah, so what's going on? I'm gonna warn you now, if you don't tell us, I'll have to ask again." Nora said, the frown on her face clear, Blake looking worried by how close Nora placed her face with hers. "Forever."

"I'd answer, she's really determined about these things." Ren warned, probably speaking from experience.

Blake, rather than dealing with a barrage of questions, decided to use this as a way to vent her frustrations with a great many amount of things. "I keep flashing back to that night on the docks." She admitted.

"That fight with Torchwick, and the White Fang?" Yang asked, her voice softer than normal.

"Them together, whether it's a partnership, if there's a mastermind, everything!" Blake replied, sounding more angry than she intended. "They're using that Dust for something, and they're still out there, planning something, and no one's doing anything to stop them!" She snapped.

"Why don't we? Sure we're may not be completely ready-" Nora's words were interrupted by Blake, who let her frustration take over.

"And we may never be ready! Our enemies are no-" Before she could continue venting, Blake realised that Nora basically said what she was going to say. She almost felt a bit underwhelmed, having been denied the culmination of her internal conflict. "I was sort of expecting more resistance to the idea of us doing something. Had this whole speech ready, on the top of my head." She said, a mixture of downcast and embarrassment.

"Too bad. We wanna beat punks and take names." Yang responded, before winking at Blake. "Besides, I love it when you're feisty."

Naturally, Blake blushed at those words. Stuff like that, even in private, wasn't exactly helping the rumours that the two of them were in a different kind of relationship to the one they were currently in, more like something from of Blake's more private books than actual real life.

"I'd just like to point out that we lack an actual plan." Ren pointed out, Nora opened her mouth to say something, but her partner was quicker. "No, Nora, 'beat people up until we find the right one' is not a plan."

Nora moaned at that, but Blake felt a confidence that she had lacked for some time, with her team behind her. Alone, all she could do was occasionally sneak out to Vale and try to question a few people that she knew, like Tukson (who she hadn't visited in a while, she did need new books) and others. With four people, however, they could actually get a plan set up and cover more ground, and Yang knew some of the seedier nightclubs, so there were open sources of information available to them.

Yang smiled at Ren's words. "Don't worry, you've got a strategic mastermind beh-I let Ruby take charge of taking the board back." Yang's face had gone pale, while the rest of Team BRNY were left guessing as to why that was a big deal. "That girl is horrible with remembering to take it back with her, I need to head back there."

"We'll go with you. We can toss some ideas on the way." Blake offered, being polite enough to not ask why Yang couldn't just ask Ruby if she forgot about the gameboard and then check.

The four of them rushed out to check to see if Yang and Ruby's game had been left there, along with a brief chat about what they would actually be doing to investigate Torchwick and the White Fang, when they found an odd sight waiting for them outside. Normally, seeing Team JWPR out of their room and in the hallway wasn't anything surprising, but the other three people they were with certainly were a surprise, especially when their uniforms were noticed.

Ruby was talking to the oldest of the three, a tall and graceful looking girl with golden eyes and black hair that was styled to cover her left eye, while Weiss was talking to a girl with green hair and red eyes of all things and both Jaune and Pyrrha were happy to chat with the boy of the group, who was tall, but not lanky, and had grey hair that somehow matched his black eyes. All of them seemed pretty engaged, although Ruby and the other girl seemed to have a bit more of an in-depth conversation.

As JWPR noticed BRNY's arrival, Ruby turned to greet them. Blake thought Ruby's eyes looked different, before she blinked and saw that they were the same as always, as she assumed that it was the result of a long day catching up to her. Ruby looked right at Yang and began to explain why the team in the Haven uniforms were in the middle of a completely different dormitory to their own.

"Yang! I forgot about the board game and was going to get it back, when I met these guys." Ruby explained, presenting the three of them with her arm. "They're from Haven, like Sun and Neptune, only they're second-year students."

"They got lost, so we're pointing them to their dormitory." Weiss added, smiling at the girl she was talking to, who seemed happy to reciprocate.

"After that whole speech from the Queen, and the Headmaster, on that giant screen, I just want to go to bed already." The man said, stretching out his arms. Blake guessed that the students were probably told about being on their best behaviour and to try and win the Tournament for their school, something she could tell was probably tedious.

"I can get behind that." The taller girl said, with an almost seductive smile, as she and her team walked off and looked back at the two teams. "We'll be seeing you guys later."

"Take care, friends." Ruby waved, before she turned back to Yang, almost looking worried. "Do you want us to get it?" She asked, Blake guessing from guilt about leaving it behind.

"Nah, we got it." Yang replied, not telling Ruby about how the time taken would be used to plan for information-gathering tomorrow.

As the two teams split apart, Blake found herself getting a strange feeling from the three Haven students, almost feeling uncomfortable with them being so close to their friends. _I need to work on my paranoia, it's getting in the way of things again._ She had remembered her first days at Beacon, how she learnt to be more trusting of the world, thanks to the help of her team, and moved on from that 'trust no one' mindset.

Blake felt a new energy to her, her team just needed to work out a plan, and manage to cooperate well enough together, and then things would finally be alright. After that, once they managed to derail the plans of the enemy, then they could focus on smaller stuff like the Tournament, and getting through the next few years at Beacon together.

With that in mind, Blake did wonder why there were only three people on that Haven team.

* * *

**I said this would be shorter than the previous chapter, I have no idea what happened.**


	12. Bright Blue Skies

**Alrighty, next chapter, and I'll be trying to test out a shorter chapter-length style. Mostly to see if people respond to it better, in contrast to previous 10k+ chapters. This chapter, we get to see the V2 RWBY costumes, with Ren and Nora style ones as well, for those interested. Remember to leave feedback.**

* * *

It was probably not going to work, but Jaune had to try.

"So, uh, Weiss," He started, already forgetting the words he practised. "After this, maybe we could get something to eat, or even check out that new Spruce Willis film tomorrow. You know, if you want to make the trip to Vale. I'm kinda meeting with family in a few days as well, it's the first time in a while, but you can come along, if you're busy today."

Weiss' sharpened for a few seconds, at the mention of family, but it didn't seem directed at him. Either way, her focus seemed to be on Professor Port's lecture, or at least his rambling story about killing a Boarbatusk ten times the size of the classroom, and not on her teammate stumbling over his own words. He didn't really know if that was a good thing or not, considering how bad he was blowing it, at the moment.

"Or we can just study, if that's what you want." Jaune added, hoping that going for academic grades might win his crush over. "Weiss, did you hear me?" He asked, not sure if he wanted her to say yes or no to that last question.

The conversation, if it could even be called that, was interrupted by the sound of beeping. Signalling that it was four in the afternoon, and thus the end of the schoolday, the alarm had managed to somehow perform a miracle and stop Professor Port mid-lecture. Looking confused at his loss of time, the teacher of Grimm Studies gave a quick excuse and let everyone leave for their various plans, and for Jaune to hope that his luck would change.

As Weiss opened her mouth, however, he could guess the answers right away.

"No, no, no, no, yes." Weiss answered, destroying Jaune's hopes once more.

Jaune decided that his head would be better suited slamming down on the desk before him, with Weiss leaving without a care, as she took to talking to Ruby about going to the CCT with some of the newer Haven students. Most of the others went on, only he did feel a feminine hand ruffling his hair. "One day."

Weiss didn't take Yang's assurance well, as Jaune could hear the angry whispering about encouraging him, and Yang's laughter in reply. Not knowing if she meant it, or was just joking around, Jaune didn't really take Yang's advice to heart, as he began to wonder if it was even worth him trying to win over Weiss, when the girl had been so clear in her refusal before. Even then, maybe he should have just taken her forgiveness for the Cardin incident and ran with it.

Being friends with the girl of his dreams was probably better than being the weirdo who couldn't take no for an answer. Now that he thought about it, asking her out in the middle of class, where she couldn't really respond or be that negative, wasn't the best of ideas. Reading it back in his mind, Jaune almost found it a bit creepy to pull something like that.

He never managed to win over girls, Jaune remembered getting his first kiss from a girl who only did it because not getting kissed by fourteen was apparently a big problem. Naturally, with seven sisters, his lack of expertise in getting even a single date was sort of sad. Everytime he asked his mother on the whole story on how she and Dad got together, hoping to copy more than just large confidence, but all she said was that he was a diamond in the rough, and that he'd find the right one someday.

_Ah, who am I kidding? No girl here is going to want to go out with me._ Jaune decided, almost wallowing in his misery, before seeing a certain someone with Mercury.

He waved to Pyrrha, getting her attention. It was likely going to be the last chance he had, before he'd have to get past an army of admirers, wanting her to go the dance with them.

Pyrrha's eyes widened, as she called over to Jaune, packing her notebook into her bag. "Oh, Jaune. I'm afraid I need to finish off some notes for Professor Oobleck's essay on the development of the Colourful Movement. I might not be back for a while, although it may take less time with Mercury's help. The assignments are weighing down a bit, so that might be the case for a few days." She said, almost apologetically.

"Okay, Pyrrha, I'm actually meeting family in a few days, before the dance, so you'll probably get back to the dorm first that time." Jaune said, a feeling of excitement welling up at the thought of seeing some of his sisters again.

"Have fun, while you can. Things might get too busy for a family reunion, once the Vytal Festival really kicks off." Mercury said, speaking up for the first time, with what Jaune took for a confident grin. "You never know, things might just get a bit chaotic."

"Tell me about it, Joan's already complaining about the subway being crowded, and Amber has to pay out of the nose to get airship tickets. I thought she might get a discount, using Schnee, but I guess the 'brother's teammate is a daughter of the company head' offer doesn't exist." Jaune said, appreciating the warning from the Haven student. It was a bit vague, but that was to be expected from an educated guess.

Mercury chuckled at the joke, at least Jaune hoped that was what he was laughing at, while Pyrrha just smiled politely. "I'll see you then, Jaune. Don't get too put down by Weiss, she's just a bit frustrated today."

Her words did make him feel better, as both she and Mercury left the room. The only issue was that Jaune could guess that his inability to read the mood was his main problem with girls, being romantic when they wanted calm, nonchalant when girls wanted a bit of emotion, and overbearing when girls just wanted to see some self-confidence. He could read it enough to know of a certain other guy who Weiss was smitten about.

Neptune Vasilias. The guy was taller, cooler, and probably better than Jaune at everything, and it made sense for Weiss to have an interest in a guy like that, even if she dodged Ruby's interrogation about her intentions with the exchange student. His status as the mysterious foreign exchange student didn't help Jaune by comparison, as the dopey teammate who the team had to train up to their level.

During his first days at Beacon, Jaune tried to play the part of the cool guy who could get any girl, only to fail miserably in the attempt. Instead, he became the comic relief, a role that heavy training with Pyrrha and the rest of Team Jasper was only starting to resolve, and even then he couldn't match Neptune. He needed to somehow become like Neptune, in Weiss' eyes, if he wanted a chance with her.

Feels like he needs advice from someone like Weiss, but has few.

_Wait. My sisters are girls, and Dad married one._ For the sake of his plan, Jaune ignored how stupid that thought was. _I can just ask them how to approach a girl. Dad might give something better, if he knows a bit more about Weiss._

His sisters were different in what they wanted from a guy, so he'd be able to get a wide span of advice from the four he would be asking. Joan, Amber, Sapphire and Daisy had a lot of boyfriends between them, so at least one would be the type that Weiss liked, and he had his good old Dad to rely on, having won over a woman running away from a tainted nobility in a romance story transported to reality. They could tell him what he needed to change, and then he could be the man of the Schnee heiress' dreams.

Jaune would become as cool as Neptune, friendly like Ren, and could even cut a heroic image like Dad. He quickly ran out of other male figures involved in dating, in his mind, as Grandpa Pytor's love didn't exactly end well, and his uncles never really mentioned how they won their lady loves, or gave birth to a few illegitimate children in Uncle Jack's case.

It was decided, he would ask his family about the right way to win a girl's heart, amongst other discussions, and use the advice to get back into the game.

"It could work." He said to himself, before he was interrupted.

"Mr Arc?" A voice asked, coated with concern. Jaune looked to find Professor Port staring at him, almost confused. "You've been standing in that exact spot for about three minutes now. Is something the issue?" He asked, as he realised that he had remained stood in a single spot for a while now.

"No, I was just..." Jaune used all of his brainpower to find the right explanation for his daydreaming. "Pondering about the nature of being a Huntsman, and it means to be one." He said, nervously enough that it almost sounded like a question, hoping that Professor Port would believe his story.

Port was silent at those words, before he then beamed. "Ah, I see that Professor Ozpin was right about you for you to have that same habit. It's always good to think of why you entered this life, and what you plan to do with the opportunities that you have before you. Your sister was of the same nature, but do remember that you still have a bit of time before truly coming to terms with what you wish to spend your life doing."

"Sure." Jaune said, before leaving the classroom, wondering about to how approach the q-

_I forgot to book the restaurant._ He realised, breaking into a cold sweat. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, Vale being a more easy-going place than he first thought, but the particular restaurant had been filling up fast and reservations were getting harder and harder to get. Hoping that he wouldn't be too late, Jaune bolted for the team dorm, whipping out his Scroll and getting the webpage up as quick as he could.

There was still time to salvage things.

* * *

Blake had never been more thankful for a class ending.

She was normally the studious type, and she guessed that people assumed it meant that she was the type to enjoy every minute of each class. She, however, had her limits and listening to Professor Port ramble about this and that, while she had actual lives to save with her team's task, was just outside of them. If it hadn't been the last class of the day, Blake might have started fearing for her sanity.

Now that she, and the rest of her team, were ready to go out and do something about the oncoming crisis, Blake felt calm again. Naturally, time had to be dedicated to making sure that they weren't fighting in their school uniforms, so they had taken up clothing that was slightly different to the ones they had for normal outdoors stuff, mostly because they were starting to stink from combat practice a few hours ago.

Nora had her boop shirt (which she managed to somehow customise so that her hammer was on the second 'o') with a white version of her normal skirt to go with the look, while Ren had an all-black appearance to him, green and white being replaced by differing shades of it, likely to help in his role in the mission. Some preferred being invisible, when going to the meetings he would be following Blake to, and that then made a good excuse on why he would be quiet, or smell different to the Faunus of the slum areas that the White Fang targeted.

When most of the area lacked the money to pay for it, and some even lacking the infrastructure due to neglect, daily baths weren't exactly the priority. Some even had to choose between showers or keeping the taps running, the choice former choice only being made when job interviews or fear of arrest came up, often the case with more nervous potential recruits. Blake herself remembered steeling the hearts of a few, fearing for their loved ones.

Blake wasn't the type to forget about such things, when preparing the plan for the task ahead, or the role her team would play in it.

"I thought that class would never end." Blake said, her relief obvious. "Does everyone remember their task for this?" She asked, preferring to be safe instead of sorry.

"Yep, Nora and I will be heading to meet an old friend of mine who knows everything about the shady stuff in Vale. Getting information out of him won't be too hard." Yang said, her composure as confident as it always was.

"And if he doesn't talk, we'll just give him the old bang-bang, smash-smash." Nora added, with a bright smile and thumbs-up.

"Good. The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders, recruit new members, and keep morale up. Getting in might give me an idea about what they're planning, the decline in the other Kingdoms means veterans will need motivation, and the recruits need a banner. Ren and I might be able to piece something together, if we don't get the whole story." Blake reminded Yang and Nora, recalling how they argued for bursting in and attacking Torchwick, without even knowing if he was there or not.

The last thing Blake wanted was for them to be trapped in a room filled with angry and confused Faunus, all of whom would probably assume some sort of police or military raid.

"Then we can meet up back here, and see what we can piece together from this." Ren finished, looking at everyone else in the room. "Everyone fine with that?"

"Sounds great to me." Sun answered, which surprised Blake as he was nowhere in the room, and he wasn't supposed to be either. Looking at the window of the team, she spotted the monkey Faunus waving to them, the same wide smile on his face, something she could tell even when he was upside down like that.

Naturally, everyone's reaction was to take a step back from shock. "How did you get there?" Yang asked, being the one to speak up.

"I do this stuff all the time." Sun replied, before elaborating under the force of Blake and Ren's glare. "What? I climb trees. Although finding the right room is difficult."

"I was changing, you pervert!" A voice shouted down from above, the guy speaking still sounding discomforted, although the chorus of supportive statements reminded Blake of someone.

"I said I was sorry." Sun shouted back, less out of anger and more from the distance between him and the other voice.

"Be sorry by helping us not die to some bitch with sunglasses." Was the reply, before Blake could hear a window being shut, as she realised who it was. _Cardin?_

Sun, deciding that it would be a long conversation, leapt from where he was hanging from and went into the dormroom. "I have no idea what that guy is talking about. Anyway, are we getting back at that Torchwick guy?"

"Ignore him. Sun, _we_ are going to investigate things _as a team_." Blake said, placing an emphasis on certain words to deter Sun from his clear hope to tag along.

"Alone? That's lame, you should always try to get friends in as well." Sun replied, as he turned his head to the open window once more. "Right Neptune?" He asked, surprising Blake as she realised that his partner was likely out there as well.

"If I die from this, blame Sun." Neptune cried out, as Team BRNY looked out to see the blue-haired man trying to look cool, despite his clear fear of where he was hanging. "Oh god, I'm so high-up."

"I guess we can add Sun to Team Strawberry Stealth, and Neptune can join Team Club Calamity." Nora suggested, using her groups names for their division.

_Nora doesn't get to name things in this team anymore._ Blake decided, using her authority as team leader, before giving up trying to deter the two of them. "I guess it'll be fine, if they join in. We may need an extra hand if things go bad."

With that, Neptune managed to get into the room as well, only to remain in a single spot. Sun seemed happy to try and coax his partner out of his prolonged fright, as he looked at Blake and Ren. "Great, as soon as Neptune isn't frozen in fright, we can move out."

"Hey, is Weiss seeing anyone?" Neptune asked, managing to force himself to speak. The question made Blake's palm meet her face, realising that things were likely not going to be easy, even if the two were able to contribute a fair bit to the overall combat ability.

Maybe Team Jasper had better judgement, when it came to going on trips with new friends.

* * *

Weiss wondered if Ruby was getting a bit too attached to their new acquaintances.

She knew that her partner didn't have the most friends back at Signal, and that her social circle was somewhat restricted, but Weiss was wondering if maybe Ruby was being too friendly with two people that they had only met yesterday. Then again, Weiss had the exact same number of friends as Ruby, so perhaps she didn't have a clue on what she was talking about.

Either way, it seemed that Cinder seemed more interested in Ruby's offer to show her as a friend to her father, alongside getting a tour of the Cross-Continental Transmit. Ruby seemed happy to talk to another team leader, and gravitated towards the experience that might as well have emanated from Cinder, who seemed happy to respond to nearly all of Ruby's questions and quirks.

All throughout the journey here, after Jaune tried attempt number six billion to ask her out, Cinder and Ruby had been trading stories about their teams. Weiss guessed that the attachment came from Ruby wanting the guidance of an older leader, whereas most of the people they knew were in the same boat, while Cinder's sheer presence of maturity and grace was exactly what pulled the fifteen year-old towards her.

Weiss was happy for her, at times wondering whether Ruby simply expanded her comfort-zone to others, and the leader of the second-year Haven team seemed happy to be friendly with Ruby. It was a small thing, only Weiss sometimes felt as if the two year age difference prevented her from opening up to Ruby more, about a variety of things. It wasn't like she could approach the others, Jaune being the type to either say the wrong thing or use it as a way to court her, and Weiss felt too embarrassed to discuss it with Pyrrha.

Emerald seemed to be someone who shared a sense of level-headedness, judging from their brief talk the other day, and she was happy to talk with Weiss on the way as well. Naturally, they bonded, with Emerald complimenting Weiss' change of clothes (Weiss choosing her slightly more formal clothes), although packing issues apparently kept the Haven duo from ditching their school uniforms for the trip.

"Your friend seems really eager to show Cinder to her dad." Emerald said, looking back at the pair with raised eyes. "Also, I'm not complaining, since I always wanted to see another CCT, but why are we doing this? If it's a social call that Ruby wants, then why did we go all the way to Vale? Are the Beacon terminals busy?" She asked, looking back at Weiss.

"No, Ruby just likes to go and visit the Cross-Continental Transmit whenever she can. She enjoys the size, although I have to give her a lecture tour each time." Weiss admitted, knowing how silly it might have sounded to someone else.

"That doesn't sound fun." Emerald said with a grimace, looking at the towering sight ahead, as she admitted her own team tales. "I've had to do the same with Mercury, Cinder helps when she can, but it gets a bit of a handful."

The two looked back at their team leaders, engaged in a discussion of their own, and managed to hear glimpses of it. "-so what's your weapon like, Cinder? I've told you about mine." Ruby asked, her eyes gleaming with infectious enthusiasm.

"Oh I know. In such great detail as well." Cinder replied, before putting a finger to her lips and smirking. "My weapon is more of a secret."

"Come on, Cinder, is it that secret? I told you about Crescent Rose's super-cool features." Ruby whined, moving closer to her fellow team-leader, adopting the standard wounded puppy look to try and get her way.

"Maybe later, if I have the time." Cinder conceded, Ruby looking to try her luck further, to Weiss' displeasure. The young leader, however, changed tack as soon as she saw the towering symbol that was the Vale Cross-Continental Transmit, the tower that did what was once the work of hundreds of communication stations scattered across all of Remnant.

"Oh my gosh, we're here." Ruby squealed, almost forcing the Schnee heiress to cover her ears. "It looks so big up close."

"At some point, you all must see the one in Atlas." Weiss said, hoping to use some of her knowledge to impress the group she was in. "It was the first to be built, and the largest, after the Remnant Civil War. It was Atlas' gift to the world, to show the peaceful benefits of its innovation and technology-based-"

"Look at me, my name is Weiss. I know stuff and love to list them out, I'm rich." Her partner had chosen to interrupt her with a poor imitation, before giggling to herself in joy. Weiss was displeased, even if the antic somehow amused Cinder, yet she handled it as any responsible adult would.

A gentle but firm grip on both cheeks and a slight tug to put a focus on each word. "Don't be a pest." She said, before letting go, hearing her partner grumble about not taking a joke well. It seemed that her leader needed another warning, to prevent further immaturity. "I was going to get you some strawberries, but now I'm wondering if I should."

Ruby grumbled more at those words, only for whisper from Cinder into her ear to pacify her, and to even break out into more giggles. Weiss chose to not ask what the older woman said, and instead chose to take comfort in the fact that Ruby wasn't trying those impersonations anymore, no matter what Yang or Nora told her about their accuracy. For the record, they were anything but accurate to her voice or personality.

"Should we go in?" Emerald asked, probably off-set by the fact that the four of them had stopped moving.

"Certainly, I have a call that I want to get over and done with." Weiss replied, not awaiting the call with glee. Most calls with Winter required a certain amount of acting, since her younger sister never enjoyed seeing Weiss mope around.

It wasn't that she hated her sister, in fact she loved Winter as any sister would. It was just that her poor health, and the awkward nature of Weiss' relationship with their father, made conversation difficult when Winter knew little about the true shadowy enterprises that the SDC got itself into, and the damage it did to their family name. Even then, Weiss wondered if Winter would understand if she tried to inform her, only Weiss didn't want it to hang over them.

And she can always end up back there. She thought to herself, as the group walked over to the elevator. Winter had spent a good while in the hospital, owing to her weak immune system, and had taken it after their mother, who barely managed to complete her university degree and give birth to two children. The illness had kept their mother from going further, and it had only been advances in medicine (heavily invested in by the Schnee family) that let Winter leave the hospital room.

It didn't stop it from colouring each talk she had with her sister.

"Are you alright?" Emerald whispered, as Weiss used her personal Scroll for the scanner. Ruby and Cinder were busy talking, and Weiss had been more than a bit surprised that someone noticed her internal conflict.

"Oh yes, I'll be fine." She replied, her answer being half the truth.

As the doors opened, the small group were greeted by the standard simulation. Weiss took the role of the standard questions, mostly on if there were terminals available and where she wanted to call, getting the standard answers programmed into the AI unit. It turned out that, with the busy nature of people flooding into Vale, there was only a single terminal left for them to use, and Weiss decided to delay the inevitable by letting Ruby use it to call her dad.

It be helpful to see a happy family interaction.

"Hey Ruby! How's my little gem doing?" Taiyang Xiao Long asked, Weiss recognising the blonde-haired man from the family pictures that Ruby showed her.

"Fine, Dad." Ruby answered, probably not enjoying the tone that her father was using, sounding like the sort of voice that people used for ten year old children.

"No trouble with boys?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and then furrowing both. "I've heard that you've got one on your team, he hasn't been pestering you, has he?"

"He's too distracted with me." Weiss felt the words slip out of her tongue, although it seemed as if they came at the right time for Ruby, as the Signal teacher's attention was drawn to her instead.

"Ah, that's good. Weiss, was it? I know it seems much, but Ruby wouldn't handle it as well as you, she's a bit more delicate." Weiss disagreed with Taiyang's words somewhat, just a bit. "That's nice, you've made some friends from Haven. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your names." He said, looking at Cinder and Emerald.

"I'm Cinder, and this is my teammate Emerald." Cinder greeted, putting an arm around Ruby and giving an almost dangerous-looking smile. Ruby looked taken by surprise, and Emerald was frowning, Weiss guessing that she didn't enjoy this part of Cinder's antics."With us around, boys will be the last of your worries with Ruby." She added, a small smirk to go with those words.

"Well that's great. It's good to see that you've made such good friends." Taiyang said, beaming at Ruby, before he frowned again. "Although you could be wearing a coat, the weather in Patch's only been getting colder, and they're saying it's the same in Vale." He pointed out, Weiss feeling the concern seep from the monitor.

"Dad, I'm fine. Look, I even have my cloak if things get colder today. Besides, guys like Sun don't even wear their shirt properly, and they aren't complaining." Ruby said, only to then put her hands on her face. Judging from her father's appalled expression, Weiss could guess that that was the wrong thing to say.

Silence reigned, as Ruby pre-emptively lowered the volume for her father's rant. "Yang's been letting you hang out with boys without their shirts on?" He screeched, his eyes wide with fear, while the four girls tried to make sure that no one could hear them. "Has she been taking you to those nightclubs? Has anyone asked you to see their wing-wang?" He asked, in a fearful frenzy.

"No, Sun's more Yang and Blake's friend, Blake being a girl." Ruby said, adding those last words in as a precaution. Their impact, however, was limited.

"Oh no, Yang's become a girl to some player." Taiyang said, weeping into his hands. Of all the things Weiss expected, this was on the bottom half of them, as Emerald seemed to be in an epic struggle to not burst out in laughter, and Cinder was merely smirking as a now moaning Ruby. "You three, do not let Ruby fall into the same trap that her sister is teetering on the edge of." He instructed, pointing at the three girls.

"Don't worry, Mr Xiao Long. Ruby will be doing anything but being lured by boys." Cinder said, leaning right next to a deep-red Ruby.

"Good, I'll see you soon, Ruby. I need to go now, got a big mission, but I will be calling Yang. Love you, bye." Taiyang said, before the monitor turned to black again.

To say that Ruby felt humiliated by that display was an understatement, although her refusal to move her hands from her face was likely compounding the whole thing. Weiss had known that Ruby's father was apparently constantly nervous about someone hurting her or Yang, yet she thought he'd be more stern than frightful over the whole thing.

"An overprotective father?" Cinder asked, crouching so that her head was level to Ruby's.

"A bit, he's been like that with me since he saw Yang making out with some boy in her room." Ruby explained, turning to Cinder. "Are your parents like that?"

"My family is complicated, let's just say that." Cinder replied, her face turning more serious. Weiss decided that it would be better to not ask about such things, sensing that it was a delicate subject.

"Oh right, you wanted a tour of the CCT?" Ruby asked, rising at Cinder's nod as the two readied to depart, turning to the other girl of their group. "Emerald, do you wanna come?" She asked, looking confused at Emerald not moving with her or Cinder.

"Not yet, I think I might stay around and enjoy the view." She answered, even if she seemed conflicted about it. As both Ruby and Cinder left their sight, Weiss allowed herself to face the fact that the call had to happen, only for a voice to cut in. "You seemed nervous, I didn't feel comfortable leaving you alone like that." Emerald said, her true reason for staying coming out.

Weiss had been so quick to return to a glum and distant look that she hadn't accounted for Emerald staying, exposing her true mood to the girl. _I must look like a mess._ She thought, deciding to open up somewhat.

"My family is not exactly topping the lists in moral business practises." Weiss admitted, the facts of the matter being hard to swallow. "My father has started the use of...less than ethical business connections to fight the White Fang, and he refuses to change employment practices out of a sense of not giving ground to terrorists. My mother's health is delicate, and my sister is the same, so there's no one to point out to him that this is wrong. Not to mention that everytime I think Winter will get better, she ends up back in the hospital."

"Sounds rough." Emerald said, putting a hand to Weiss' shoulder, somehow goading her on.

"It's a genetic disease, my mother is a relation to the Imperial Family in Atlas, and certain past practices had the result of a limited genepool, my sister has it too. Not to mention the fact that my father was only conceived due to the death of his brothers in the Dust Lung epidemic." Weiss added, only for her mind to move to mitigate the damage of her pouring her secrets out. "Why am I telling you this?" She asked, not knowing whether it was directed at Emerald or herself.

"I'm guessing you think your partner is too young, and your teammates care about you, and you don't want any of them to worry over you." Emerald answered, as her next words seemed to indicate to Weiss that her expression was obvious enough. "I won't tell anyone, if you don't want me to." She offered, making Weiss smile.

"That would be nice." The Schnee heiress rested her face onto her hands, hating how vulnerable she appeared. "I feel like a monster, hating talking to my sister. She loves knowing about my life here, and all I can think about is what Father is doing to Faunus workers, and if her health is going to relapse again. I shouldn't be bothering you with this, I know it sounds like poor little rich girl crying about her problems."

"No, I get it. You love them, but you know they're doing things wrong." Emerald replied, Weiss thankful that someone could understand her. "I know how it can be, with someone like your sister too. You don't want to be reminded of how fragile hope can be. Just keep at it, I'm sure it won't matter for you soon enough." The smile she gave was more than enough comfort.

Weiss felt confident. Somehow, managing to open up to someone had reduced the weight that she felt on her shoulders, and that she could manage to bring in a little more truth to the smiles she normally faked around her family. Sitting down on the chair, Weiss' fingers levitated over the call button, knowing that it would send to the SDC Headquarters in Atlas, where she would speak with her sister after months of only communicating via email.

After a moment's hesitation, Weiss chose to press the button. _Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Besides, why else am I here?_

The screen flickered to life, and after a brief explanation of her purpose, and a denial of wanting to speak to Father as well (that was a hurdle for another time), Weiss saw the face of her sister. Winter's face was pale, even by Schnee standards, and it was a clear sign that she rarely went out into the sun. Her twintails and bright smile, however, contradicted the image of a girl ravaged by sickness, and her expression became all but the sun when she saw that her sister was on the line.

"Weiss! It's so good to see you. How are things? Are any of your teammates there? Is it true that you fought the White Fang yourself, a few months ago? Who is this girl? Is she a new friend? Do you-" The many questions were interrupted b a string of hacking coughs, Winter's face losing what colour it had. It took all of Weiss' willpower to not have her heart sink at the sight of her little sister in such a state, even with the tired smile. "Sorry, forgot to breath. Father's doing some business, but I'll be seeing him in an hour."

"Hello, Winter." Weiss greeted her sister with the most authentic smile possible after that display. "Is the weather in Atlas not disruptive for your health?" She asked, hoping that there were measures being taken to deal with the cold of Atlas.

"Not at all, I'm doing fine. Honestly, you're like Father, with having all the rooms here heated and such." Winter replied, waving off her sister's questions, before beaming back at her. "Things are fine, some worker disruptions, but I've followed protocol, as Father's advisers recommended. I hear that there's a dance coming up at Beacon, have you got any dates?" Winter had a rare sly smile at that last question, obviously hoping for something amazing.

"I have a few ideas." Weiss admitted, recalling the image of one Neptune Vasilias. He was nice, tall, good-looking, and being the one to gain a date with the exciting foreign exchange student was never that bad, making him an ideal date. The thought of the dance brought up another thing that Winter could be told about. "I'm even working with my team for a dance."

Silently, she reminded herself to remember to help Ruby in figuring out the proper method of matching the rest of the team in the dance, even as the girl still had trouble moving in heels, as she continued to talk with Winter. She heard about the company news, about how everyone was in awe of her, and the social happenings in Atlas such as couples arguing, people coming together, arguments with the Queen of Mistral, Mother being able to enjoy the gardens, and many other things.

As the two sisters spoke, Weiss only took a brief interruption to wave off Emerald, who had taken the chance to join up with the others on the Ruby-run tour of the building.

* * *

"Mercury?" Pyrrha asked, looking at her study partner for the day from across the table. "Do you have anything on the Colourful Movement in Vale?" She asked, finding that yet another book had little of what she needed.

Vale was an unfortunate Kingdom, when it came to exciting events. It lacked the technological prowess of Atlas, Mistal's military skills, and Vacuo's diversity and maverick nature, and was more a place of relative stability, achieved by playing others off on one another during more violent times, not to mention its mountains making any attack difficult. Even with the rise of the regimes, seeking to force humanity into a direction solely based on fighting the Grimm and expanding, Vale lacked the studies that had been made on the other three..

Atlas and Mistral were relatively straightforward, the regimes rose, protests were crushed, and people fled. Vacuo served as a poetic moment, where the once safe-haven for the dissidents itself fell to temptation, and forced the Colourful Movement to move from weeping in hotel rooms to fighting back, not to mention its role as the place where public enemies and banned art hid from the eyes of the other Kingdoms. Vale, on the other hand, merely had the same process, only after Atlas and Mistral inspired the nobility there.

The whole story was saddening to Pyrrha, to see fear and despair drive people towards blinking at the face of the abyss, and she ignored references to a certain Vale noble family whose name rhymed with Re Dais. Still, the good guys won, and things were different from there. If she could only find a book that detailed the movements in Vale, she could be less gosh-darn frustrated with trying to finish off her book notes, already having a small mountain of them at the ready.

"Nah, I'm just reading up on the Faunus role in it," Mercury replied, looking down at the book. "Trying to make them into notes is near-impossible though."

"It's a trick you pick up, I still help Jaune sometimes, but he's getting the hang of it." Pyrrha mentioned, recalling the many times she had to pluck a comic book from him, and maybe have a read of it herself. "Try using the index, they might have the keywords you want. It'd take too much time to read through the whole book." She advised, which Mercury looked to appreciate.

"I'll take that advice." He was giving one of his usual smirks, as he spoke those words. It was one of those things that she couldn't tell if it was just the way he smiled, or if he simply chose to look so overly confident.

It was something that she picked up on about the Haven student, Mercury having spent most of the time joking about things and making comments about certain parts of the book, rather than really focusing on studying. Pyrrha wondered if he really wanted to study, or if he just wanted something to do instead of following his team, the latter just raising more questions.

_Maybe his team insisted, or he cares more about his grades then he says._ Pyrrha thought, deciding to try and help her new friend to study, seeing that he hadn't moved from the index of the book. She didn't want him to get into trouble about missing out on the assignment, or getting something terribly wrong.

That was when she got a look at the graphic novel that Mercury was actually reading, with the index being ignored completely. "I can see how making notes can be tricky." She pointed out, making him aware of her presence.

"I just got bored, this books kind of drones on." He replied, although the slight blush at getting caught undermined his carefree image. "There's way too much useless information there." He explained, although a certain sight undermined his point.

"It is a study of Fauna in Vale, I can see how." The sight of the numerous names for plants, and Mercury apparently not noticing at all despite it being his cover, made Pyrrha giggle. "Why did you think that book would help?"

"Maybe it was a medicine for the journey to Vacuo, or maybe they helped inspire someone. Do you know if it can't?" Mercury's sudden aggression put Pyrrha off, wondering if something she said had upset him somehow.

"I'm sorry, I guess I was taken aback. I thought you just chose it as a cover. I'll just try and find the book myself." She nearly mumbled, as Mercury seemed switch from anger to an aloof expression, perhaps realising his overreaction.

In one of the more annoying moments of her life, right next to having to take a few hundred takes for that Pumpkin Pete's commercial while restraining her anger, Pyrrha found the book she wanted...right where she looked a few hundred times before. She saw the book on Faunus that Mercury was looking for, raising questions in the back of her mind, before she silenced them. _Maybe he's on auto-pilot, he seems like the type._

She found the ideal book, which was on historical movements in Vale, and noted a fair few chapters dedicated to the history of the Colourful Movement for both human and Faunus. Checking the index, hoping that there would be enough on their beginnings, Pyrrha was thankful to find that there were a good few pages on the founding of the movement, and the pages themselves had a wealth of information for her to use.

"Mercury, I think I found something," Pyrrha said, hoping to use it as a peace offering, with the two sharing the book. "I think it's the last one we'd need, if we add on my books." She offered, to which Mercury smiled once more.

"Great, now I can get Emerald off my back about getting this stuff done." He said, Pyrrha guessing that it was about the dance. A certain level of academic success at Beacon was required to go, and this often meant getting an average of a C, or a D in certain circumstances, and it was likely that Emerald merely didn't want Mercury to fail to do so. That said, it was not as difficult as it appeared, with even Team CRDL getting the C average needed.

She sat down next to Mercury, but not before bringing her stuff over, and began to take notes from the book. It turned out that Vale was similar to Atlas and Mistral, no surprise but the book was needed, in that there were multiple protest movements of varying methods, and that support rose as the governments used more repressive methods, culminating in the disastrous Faunus War and the collapse of the regimes themselves. Most of the movement started as it always did, from the artistic community and those who were to be repressed by the very nature of the regimes, and they worked hard for decades until their victory eighty years ago.

"Mercury, could I just borrow the book? I need some of its details to actually cite it." She asked, seeing Mercury look at it attentively. Pyrrha only needed certain details like the author, the publisher, the date it was actually published, and others.

"Yeah sure," Mercury replied, sliding it over to her. She took the chance to carefully jot down all the details, and looked at her notes with pride, ready to be turned into an actual essay over the course of a few nights. "Could you say what page 87 says?" He asked, as Pyrrha got the last detail down.

"Why not just read it? I'm done either way." She passed the book back to him, as Mercury took it and began to read from it.

The book wasn't that difficult to follow, at least for Pyrrha, only Mercury seemed to be straining himself to actually try, even going so far as to squint them and murmur to himself. He perhaps thought she couldn't hear him, but the echo in the room made it so that she could hear him trying to get the words out from the book. She assumed that this was just a joke, to make her summarise it for him, as she and Weiss sometimes did for Ruby.

"You can read it, can't you?" She asked, adding some levity to her voice. It drained instantly, however, when she saw Mercury's face go dark red, and she saw how tightly she was gripping the book in his hands. "Can't you?" She asked, this time with concern.

"Shut up, just shut up." Mercury whispered those words, but the anger in them made her wish he shouted it. He stood up from his seat and almost stormed out, grabbing his bag as he did so. "I'll do it tomorrow."

Pyrrha stopped him, getting right in front of the moving student. "Mercury, you don't have to be embarrass-"

"I can read." He hissed, fury in his eyes. "I just wasn't taught at the right time, so people say I can do it, then just laugh behind my back when I don't do it fast enough, or need to say it to recognise it."

The bitterness in his voice helped Pyrrha realise why some of the other Haven students looked confused by his presence at times. It was likely that, whatever delayed his learning by so much, he had to be taught separately from the other students to ensure that he could actually gain an education without mockery from the more cold-hearted of his peers. His combat skill must have been very high, for it to balance out something like this.

She guessed that he simply stopped trying to make big strides, after he must have heard restrained laughter or frustration from teachers not expecting to tell this sort of thing to a teenager. Realising that he needed some form of positive display, Pyrrha placed a hand on his shoulder, and said something even she wasn't sure about.

"I can help you figure out the basics." She offered, even though she knew that helping someone with this, compared to combat, was very different.

"Emerald's already helping me out, she helps type them up on my Scroll and sometimes helps me with certain words, just like when we were kids. I just need to get the book details down, when I want to pay attention." Mercury replied, looking anywhere but her eyes.

"I mean more help. No one is around here, at this time. I can help you out with reading, and I promise I won't laugh." Pyrrha said, not wanting one of her new friends to feel like he couldn't be around her. A selfish part of her admitted that having someone not deify her was nice as well, however badly it made her feel.

"Oh, won't you? It's easier said than actually helping someone with 'the reading level of a ten year old' with this." He pointed out, almost shoving her hand away and moving forward again.

"Mercury, no one is going to judge you." Pyrrha said gently, putting her hand back on his shoulder, feeling how tense it was. "If you don't try, they've won."

There was a dark chuckle, before Mercury then gave a false smile to her. "And you're just a nice person like that?"

"Well," Pyrrha hesitated, before remembering how Jaune was, how he was determined to make up for his own lack of skill in certain areas, just as Mercury was. "You're not the first person who's more capable at something than everyone thinks, even if they think they aren't as well."

"You mean that Jaune guy?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's not exactly a well-kept secret that you two are really close, even if you're both going out with Wei-"

"We're not, rest assured." Pyrrha cut in, a bit too quickly and sharply for her liking, judging by the expression on Mercury's face. "I still have half an hour planned for the study session, let's try and work together on this."

Pyrrha went to find an easier book for Mercury, both as it would make things easier for teaching, and the right topic would help show that she didn't just let Mercury copy from her essay, if Oobleck developed that suspicion. She felt something wrong, turning to see Mercury giving his standard small smirk, and wondered how exactly someone could make a genuine smile look so fake.

_Maybe it's natural to him._ Pyrrha decided, as she moved to grab the book on the Faunus before heading back to Mercury, wondering if their respective teammates were enjoying themselves.

* * *

Ruby felt like their new friends could be trusted with anything.

Cinder seemed pretty cool, and was actually happy and interested in Ruby's talk about modifications made to Crescent Rose (while the rest of Team JWPR tended to have their eyes go all fuzzy, after five minutes), while Emerald and Weiss made a quite pair together. Another plus had been the fact that none of them made fun of how...protective her dad was over her.

She knew that he cared, but he didn't have to go into protective-mode right in front of Weiss and their new friends. If Cinder hadn't played along, or if Ruby had accidentally mentioned the sleeping arrangements for the first night, Dad might have actually marched all the way to Beacon and put her into some kind of plastic bubble, with only Zwei for company.

_Not that that last bit would be a bad thing, but I can't become a Huntress like that._ Ruby then realised the one thing that Dad didn't bring up on their call. _Where was Zwei? He's always in family calls. Dad was in his mission gear, so maybe he's taking our dog with him?_

"Nah, that's just silly." Ruby whispered, accidentally incurring the wrath of her partner.

"Excuse me?" Weiss asked sharply, causing the normally-fearless leader of Team JWPR to sputter out an apology. "You were spacing out again, weren't you?" She rolled her eyes as she spoke, forcing Ruby to defend herself.

"I was just thinking. Anyway, you sure that Jaune and Pyrrha won't mind us being a bit late? I feel like I'm letting them down." Ruby admitted, not wanting to imagine Jaune and Pyrrha just sitting in the training room, twiddling their thumbs and wondering why their leader abandoned them.

"Don't be silly, we're just going to look at General Ironwood's presentation, and then we can meet up with Cinder and Emerald at the CCT. Then we can go back, and work on our combat and dance moves." Weiss assured, although the last bit made Ruby grimace.

"Oh, but the last bit is too hard. Lousy Jaune and his need to have poppin' fresh moves for the whole team." She mumbled, although she apparently made Weiss giggle with some of her words.

"Poppin'? And I thought I had been sheltered." Weiss said, more to herself, although it didn't stop Ruby from laughing as well. "Anyway, it should be another turn this way, or maybe we're in the wrong area." They were trying to see this Ironwood guy's big presentation, mostly because Weiss insisted, while Cinder and Emerald wanted to make some calls at the CCT.

With just the two of them walking, and no lousy distractions, Ruby decided to bond with her partner somewhat. "How was the talk with Winter?" She asked, wincing at Weiss' pulling up her shields.

"It went well. She's in good health, has managed to meet the expectations given to her, and she even assisted in the holographic part of the presentation Ironwood is giving." Weiss replied, her voice stable and not really saying much, before looking at Ruby. "Why do you ask?"

"You don't like to talk about your family." Ruby answered, looking downcast. "Why not?" When Emerald mentioned pre-call nerves from Weiss, and refused to elaborate, Ruby could tell that it was about her family, even if Weiss didn't like telling her about it.

Weiss never talked about her personal life much, outside losing people to the White Fang and that her relationship with her family wasn't the greatest, and Ruby felt compelled to try and learn more about the girl who was her partner. She knew that Weiss didn't think that Ruby would understand, or that she was too immature to say the right thing, but that didn't mean she couldn't try.

_And I can't mature, if she keeps things like this from me._ Ruby decided, taking Weiss' hand and showing her both of their rings. "Weiss, we're friends. Best friends, even. Yeah, we had our bumps in Initiation and the whole stating the team thing, but we moved past that. The incident with Cardin, the docks battle, and even the team dance, shows that we can trust each other, and I want you to trust me enough to talk about things that trouble you." Smiles, as move to crowd. "So, penny for your-wait, Penny?"

"Huh?" Weiss stopped in her tracks, mimicking Ruby, as she didn't seem to recognise the girl hiding behind a wall, where the fringes of the crowd could be seen. There, both girls could see a certain person who they hadn't met since the night at the docks, wearing the same clothes as always, and had the same recognisable hairstyle as always.

"Penny!" Ruby cried out, hoping to get the girl's attention. "It's us, Ruby and Weiss."

At the sound of her name, Penny turned to see the pair. Only, instead of looking happy to see them, she looked scared of all things. "Oh no, I'm afraid I don't know you tw-hik."

"What do you mean? We met at Vale, you helped us fight terrorists, we had a team photo, these things aren't easy to forget." Ruby said, trying to figure out why Penny seemed so desperate to pretend to not know them. Did she have some 'cool' new friend like Weiss with Neptune? Or was this Penny's twin sister, with the exact same name?

"I'm sorry, you have me confused with someone else-hik!" Penny replied, keeping that hiccup which Ruby knew was a sign that she was lying.

"What? Penny, come on. Don't tell me that you don't recognise us, not when you're having those lie-hiccups. what's going on?" She looked at Penny Fearful look. "Is someone making you stay quiet?" She asked, worry filling her up

"We need to know these things, Penny. You have to tell your friends about this, and that's a demand." Weiss said, in a bit of a mean way, which she seemed to recognise. "Granted, not the friendliest of ways to put it, but still."

Penny was silent, looking downcast, before she spoke again. "I'm not supposed to talk to anyone involved in the docks incident. My father is very protective, and the General was also concerned about the consequences that I might have faced, if things went wrong among other things." She admitted, Ruby restraining herself from hugging the girl out of sheer relief.

"I know the feeling about dads," Ruby still wasn't over how much Dad had babied her back at the CCT. "You said your family had contacts in the SDC, and you mentioned Ironwood. Does that mean your dad works in the military, or the Academy?"

"They're not exclusive roles in Atlas." Weiss told her, before managing to make her voice a bit gentler for the shy girl in front of them. "Penny, you can trust us. Why doesn't your father want us to talk?" She asked, actually managing to get an answer from Penny.

"It wasn't my father, it was-"

"-which is why we at Atlas strive for greater innovation." A voice declared, increasing in volume and preventing Penny from answering. Ruby and Weiss joined Penny in seeing the display, Ruby kept herself from squeeing at the robots making all sorts of poses. "The protection of all mankind is the first goal of all of our minds, as you can see from our latest models. Fine is never good enough, when it comes to the well-being of your loved ones, and that's why we strive for great technology and transparency of actions." The guy who Ruby guessed was General Ironwood said.

"You said there was a big surprise." Ruby complained to Weiss, not seeing anything that big. Well, the switch from the AK-130 to the rumoured AK-200 was a surprise, but Ruby already had an idea from that from stuff like Weapons Magazine, and she could tell that people were here for something much bigger.

"Winter said there would be, and she knows these things." Weiss replied, giving a weird look that seemed to be both admiring and cautious.

"Maybe we should go." Penny suggested, although Ruby wanted to make sure that she at least saw what the big thing was going to be.

"Which is why, so that we can manage to remove men from the battlefield, but keep the human touch needed, we worked with the Schnee Conglomerate on an exciting project. Behold, the Atlesian Paladin!" Ironwood announced, as Ruby's jaw dropped in amazement at the giant robot. It was like a dream. "We can't show you it today, but soon they will be helping in the defence of all of our Kingdoms' borders from whatever enemy may come!"

Weiss, in contrast to the crowd's cheering and Ruby's silence of amazement, seemed a bit unhappy, as she mumbled to herself. "Of course he'd do this. Outsource our work to giant robots, all because I wouldn't follow his-"

"So cool. We get to fight next to giant robots." Ruby said to herself, getting an odd look from Weiss. "Robots are like one of the coolest things ever." She turned to Penny for her opinion, only to find the girl blushing.

"Still, maybe we should go." She said, as Weiss shook Ruby's shoulder and pointed at the two armed guards who were moving towards them. Hearing Penny bolt away, Ruby and Weiss quickly followed the girl in trying to avoid her pursuers.

They ran down the street, Ruby and Weiss following Penny as the two soldiers went after them, as Ruby was determined to make sure that Penny didn't disappear again and that she was taken against her will. Turning a corner, the two of them saw Penny go down the alleyway and followed her there, while the soldiers seemed to have trouble with a car, if the sound of brakes being applied quickly was anything to go by.

Penny was just straight ahead, but they also needed to lose the soldiers who still caught up with her and Weiss somehow, although they didn't seem to recognise Weiss for who she was. Ruby wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, only now wasn't the time to think about that. _I need to keep them of our backs._ She decided, pulling Crescent Rose out of its carrier and sliced down a few crates to block the way for those soldiers.

With that, Ruby looked to Weiss and they both nodded, the signal to use their Semblances. With a few petals being released behind her, Ruby ran up the wall and used her speed to catch Penny, whilst Weiss summoned a few of her speed glyphs to build up some more distance from those armoured goons. Weiss' glyphs, rather than their normal perfect shape, looked a bit more faded and scraggly than normal, whch seemed to slow her down somewhat.

For Ruby, it was the fact that Penny was a lot heavier than she looked, forcing Ruby down to collapse onto the ground as Penny flew out of her arms. What does that girl eat, it's like she's made of metal. Ruby thought to herself, before she saw a car heading straight for her, and heard Weiss scream out in concern. "Ruby!"

Both Weiss and Penny moved, as Penny reached her first and threw her out of the way, as Ruby could then see the aftermath of Penny holding back a small truck. Mainly, that Penny barely had a scratch on her, while the truck looked like it had been in a fender-bender. "Are you okay?" She asked, sounding afraid that Ruby had even the slightest injury.

Ruby was confused, to say the least, as Penny suddenly looked horrified after seeing her hands and ran off again. Weiss was already after her, and Ruby could see that the soldiers had started to catch up again, forcing her to follow the two again. Needless to say, she had no idea what was happening.

"Penny, come back!" Ruby cried out, as she was able to reach the orange-haired girl again, only to find her fretting under Weiss' stare.

"Penny, why are soldiers chasing you? What happened back there? I know you're stronger than you look, but I didn't think you'd be that strong." Weiss asked, hands on her sides and looking like she wanted answers.

"No, I'm fi-hik! I don't want to tal-hik! You wouldn't understand." Penny replied, speaking in a frenzy. Ruby could tell that the feeling of being interrogated was scaring her, and making her panic, so she took over from her partner.

"We can try, you can trust us! We're friends, all of us. Remember?" She asked, hoping that things would remain normal enough to get an answer.

"Do you promise? Both of you are my friends?" Penny was nearly at the point of tears, with her question.

"We promise, now please. Tell us." Ruby said, unnaturally quiet, and even more so when Penny revealed her hands

"I'm not a real girl," Penny said, as quiet as a mouse, as she showed the two of them the metal patches on her skin. Or rather, the skin that covered the metal. "Most girls are born, but I was made. I'm the first synthetic person capable of Aura-generation, my father, the General, Mr Schnee, Maroon and Cyan, they all say that I'm going to do great things. But I'm not real, I'm just the result of multiple desires, all formed into one."

"Penny, of course you're human." Ruby grabbed the hands tightly, feeling the cold sensation of the metal. "Nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts doesn't make you fake. You have a heart, you have someone you call your dad, you have friends. That makes you more human than those Atlesian Whatevers. You've got a soul. Besides, I think robots are pretty cool." She said with a smile.

"This is a slight shock," Weiss said, somewhat nervously, making Ruby fear the worst. "However, you don't really give off the 'machine with nothing but efficiency on its mind' vibe, now do you? If anything, you're more like Ruby than the Atlesian Knights."

Penny, once near the pits of misery, looked even happier then when their friendship was first confirmed. Grabbing both Weiss and Ruby, she wrapped her arms around both of their heads and held them very close to each other and her. "Oh Ruby, Weiss, you're the best friends that anyone could have." The sheer glee would have been heart-warming, if it wasn't killing the both of them.

"I can see why people would want to protect such a delicate little flower." Ruby sputtered out, over Weiss' protests, as neither seemed able to stop them from dying.

"Oh he is very sweet, I'm sure you would love to meet him, Ruby. He's the one who built me. You may have seen him at a few galas, Weiss." Penny said, letting the both of them go.

"Geppetto? He's your father?" Weiss asked, her left eye arched in confusion. "Hold on, did General Ironwood assist in your creation? Is that why the soldiers were following you?" She asked, Ruby letting Weiss get the information out.

"Oh yes, they're very concerned for my safety. Someday, once I've learnt all I must, I'm to save the world. The Tournament will help me hone my skills." Penny explained, sounding so certain of herself.

"We're in a time of peace, well relatively speaking. We don't need to be saved." Ruby said, confused about what Penny meant about saving the world. Did they expect her to fight the White Fang? Why would they make it sound like a war was coming?

"That's not what they told me." Penny said to herself, unsure of her own words.

"She went this way!" A voice cried out, Ruby realising that it was the soldiers they had been chased by.

"I know where you two can hide." Penny instructed, before grabbing both Ruby and Weiss and carrying them towards the nearby dumpster. Naturally, Weiss didn't seem eager, and Ruby was confused about why her friend was going with them.

"What you doing?" Ruby cried out, struggling against Penny's super-powerful grip. She felt a moment of sorrow for Sun, who had to get a full-force grip from the girl back at the docks.

"This is a suitable hiding place for the both of you." She explained, easily carrying the two Huntresses-in-training in her hands.

"Are you calling us tra-ASH!" Weiss tried to protest, only for the two of them to be unceremoniously dumped in anyway. Penny lifted the roof down on them and motioned for them to stay quiet, Ruby doing so without the glare that her partner took up.

"Don't worry, Cyan and Maroon are nice to me. I just don't want either of you to get into trouble, especially with how things are right now." Penny assured, before looking the two of them in eye. "But you must promise to keep my secret, please." Her eyes did a fair amount of pleading as well.

"We will." Ruby promised, Weiss nodding with her, as Penny closed the dumpster roof on them. Curiosity getting the better of her, Ruby nudged the roof open a small bit, to see the two soldiers finally catch up to Penny.

"Salutations!" She greeted, the two running right up to her.

"Where are those other two?" The soldier in blue asked, looking at the exits from the alley they were in, expecting to see them there.

"What other two? I've been here by myself-hik-and I only have a few scratches." She replied, showing her hands, making the one in blue sigh in frustration.

"Penny, you know better than to run off like that. Your father is going to be unhappy with all of us, not to mention General Ironwood. Hell, was that Weiss Schnee we were chasing?" The one Ruby guessed was Cyan scolded, sounding more like her guardian than her captor.

"Relax, Cy. There's a base nearby, and I doubt there are any spies lurking around. Geppetto isn't here, the Schnee heiress isn't here demanding answers, and we can just get this fixed without any problems whatsoever. The important thing is that you're alright, Penny, let's just get back to base." Maroon said, taking the girl by the hand and leading her off.

The three of them left, leaving Ruby and Weiss alone in the trash, leaving the team leader to turn to her sidekick and smile. "Didn't expect today to turn out like this, did ya?"

"Just be quiet you-PEST!" Weiss squealed out, Ruby seeing the rat as the two of them panicked heavily.

Smashing their way out of the dumpster, the two quickly moved to make sure that the rat couldn't burst its way out and murder the both of them, after their unwilling invasion of its home. Maybe some wood and nails would do the trick, Weiss being too panicked to use her glyphs instead.

_"How did things go on your end, Mercury?"_

_"Pretty well. We're study-buddies now, and I don't see her suspecting anything. I'm sure she'll be telling me all sorts of secrets in time. How about you two?"_

_"Poor little rich girl's got family issues. I almost had to throw-up, they sounded like soap so much."_

_"Now, now, Emerald. I'm sure she told you all of that in confidence. Of course, that shouldn't be surprising. Their leader's a puppy, show a little affection and she exposes herself to you. I'm not surprised your targets were so willing to expose themselves."_

_"What can I say? That Pyrrha girl may look like the strongest, but that whole thing with the Arc guy just proves that there's nothing more she loves then exposing herself to the weak, pitiful and dumb."_

_"Now, now, Mercury, let's not be too sharp with our words. Both of us managed to scout out the area easily, sneaking in should be much easier now. We'll talk further, when I get back."_

_"Roger that."_

_"Mercury?"_

_"Yes Emerald?"_

_"You're not dumb. Or pitiful."_

_"I know."_

_"I mean it. Cinder thinks the same, you heard her."_

_"I know, Emerald...Thanks anyway."_

_"See you back at the dorm."_

_"You too."_

* * *

**Well, that failed to be that much shorter, still, wait until we get to next chapter. Remember to leave feedback.**


	13. Checking Things Out

**Okay, splitting the original chapter in half to make it easier for you guys to read, and to make sure it gets out as more than a giant block of words. Still, now we get to see Team BRNY (and Sun and Neptune) scout out the situation, and see things from the two characters that everyone but canon loves to hear. Hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Nora always liked riding on Bumblebee, especially when Yang was driving it.

Unlike most people who drove Nora places, Yang didn't care about lame stuff like speed limits, waiting in traffic, or making sure that everyone was wearing a helmet before driving, and was just happy to go at her own pace. This was good for Nora as Yang's pace was really, really fast, and that was the precise speed that Nora loved to go at.

As there were three people, instead of the two planned, she had to squeeze in right in front of Neptune while Yang drove them to the bar she was talking about. That had meant she got to feel the sweat running down the guy's back as he kept muttering about how he was going to die, instead of her normal fun conversations with Yang that included stories about how this and that guy got punched in the face. They were the best part of team trips.

Finally stopping, Yang pulled off her helmet and Nora used this time to hop off the car. She didn't normally care too much about her clothes, hair, and other stuff like that, but she did love the shirt that Daddy got her and didn't want it ruined by some other person's sweat. It was a pretty good thing that Neptune shook himself out of fright, since this was probably the same nightclub that Yang apparently smashed up before school had started.

Nora didn't need her deerstalker and smoking pipe to figure out that things might get a bit aggressive.

Seeing two well-dressed guards, with probably illegal swords on them, only confirmed Nora's suspicions, and made her yearn to play detective and sidekick with Ren again. Yang didn't seem too bothered, waving to them like they were old buddies of hers. "'Sup guys? What's new?"

"Oh hell no." One of them screamed, stumbling before he rushed back into the bar with his buddy. The sound of a door being locked seemed to suggest that they weren't going to be best buds with Club Calamity, which was a bummer.

"What was that about?" Neptune asked, his goggles still kind of slanted.

"I don't think they remember us being friends." Yang said, with that bizarre mixture of disappointment and excitement that Nora just loved about her teammate. She began to crack her knuckles, and Nora readied her weapon carrier, if any jerks tried to get in their way.

A well-placed kick opened the door for the three of them to just stroll on in. The walkway down to the club floor was kind of strange, even by Nora's standards, as elevator music seemed to play at the front desk where someone should have been there to see if they were on the list, which was made ominous by the fact that no one was there. Still, the distant sounds of music from the club floor were catchy, and Nora might have even prepared for her legendary freestyle were there not a giant wall in the way.

Being courteous, Nora offered Yang the chance the smash the door down, which was happily accepted by the fiery maiden of punching people. Neptune seemed a bit unsure of whether it would work, or maybe just wanted cover from any debris going his way, if his hiding behind Yang was anything to go by.

"Guess who's back! Come on, I know you all missed me." Yang declared, with Nora on her right and Neptune on her left, with the former two making a pretty cool pose.

Unfortunately, Club Calamity were greeted with a few dozen firearms of all kinds, and two grumpy yet pretty twin girls to the side readying their weapons. _Well, poopy._Unless all three of them could become bulletproof, Nora didn't see much of a way out of this, without at least a few scratches and scars.

"Stop, stop. Don't shoot her, you idiots." A guy said, this one built like a bear and clearly the boss. "Clearly, you're here for a reason, Blondie. Mind telling me, so that we can discuss this like adults and not destroy each other's property?" He asked, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"You still owe me a drink, Junior, come on." Yang replied, marching forward and grabbing this Junior guy by the arm, dragging him towards the bar.

"She has some weird definition of the word friend, but what a woman." Neptune said admiringly, Nora having to nod at that. It was only then that the two of them saw the pair of girls from a few seconds ago, both with the same kind of hair and make-up, but one was in red and the other was in white, and were more than a little attractive.

Neptune moved first, trying to flirt with the two girls with some lame pick-up line. "'S-"

"'Sup, my name's Nora. Nora Valkyrie." Nora said, putting a hand and standing on her tiptoes to cockblock Neptune. She then moved to go in between the two, and wrapped her arms around them. "Wanna hang out? I can be a pretty fun gal." She offered, already imaging the arcades and Spruce Willis film they could see.

"Whatever." The one in white said, moving herself from Nora's arm and stalking off, leaving Nora to try and work with the blushing one in red. Or she would, if the other girl didn't drag her sister along, seeing that Nora was going to use her sweet moves. "Militia, no. She's probably some dirtbag." She warned, moving her sister away.

"Rude." Nora mumbled, denied a date. Looking back at Neptune, the betrayal in his eyes was clear. "Don't hate the player, hate the game." She replied, leaving Neptune to mumble.

Yeah, she played for both teams. Nora just liked some girls in that way, and some boys in that way, even if they often didn't really like her, except for Ren but they didn't like each other in that way. Prom night probably made some people think otherwise though, but Nora wasn't the kind of girl who thought about the past when there was the future to think about!

Speaking of the future, Nora could see that Yang and Junior's talk was starting to get a bit heated. She may not have needed the back-up, Nora knowing that her teammate could beat these punks down easily, but it was for more the principle of the thing that mattered most. Gliding across the dance floor, with Neptune right behind, Nora found Yang starting to get a bit impatient with Junior, who didn't seem happy either.

"Don't pretend you don't know, I saw you with Torchwick that night. You'd want a reason, for giving away some of those goons, what was it?" The blonde demanded, slamming her fist onto the bar, causing Junior to wince.

"He said he wanted them for some heists, robbing dust stores and other stuff like that. Other than that, I don't know. He hasn't even used my guys in months, not since he teamed up with the White Fang." Junior said, that last bit actually surprising the three of them. "Don't pretend you didn't know, I also heard about how you guys were at the docks. I spent days pissing myself that I was going to get arrested for those transcripts, after that guy lied about not qualifying. How do you beat Roman, if you weren't good enough to go to B-"

"You're rambling, so you're lying." Yang nearly barked, cutting off Junior and playing the bad cop. "You know something." She said, sounding so sure of herself that Nora couldn't help but believe her.

"Oh yeah, keep insisting I know. That'll change the goddamn fabric of reality." Junior replied, before he squinted at Nora, almost confused with her "Do I know you?" He asked.

"Nah, I never saw you in my imaginary detective games, when I was a kid." Nora answered, before turning to Yang, as she sat herself down on one of the barstools. "This guy not talking?"

"Look. He paid up front, I gave him the guys, and they never came back." Junior said, only sounding more emotional than before. Those last words were all but spat at them, and he grew more angry as he said it, even if she noticed that there was a bit of sadness to it. He probably didn't like thinking about them being silenced.

"Where did they go?" Neptune asked, which seemed to make nearly everyone facepalm at his silliness.

"How do you even breathe, asking stupid crap like that? They _never came back_, who even is this guy?" Junior snapped, looking at Yang for some kind of explanation.

"Eye candy, gets some dark dames talking." Nora said, which only made the criminal silent before speaking again.

"I don't care. Maybe he wasn't happy with them, which I can COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND!" He shouted those words, but he had turned to look at his goons rather than Club Calamity.

"Screw you." Came the reply from one brave yet insane goon, no one being able to tell which one said that.

"Militia, Melanie, and Bear Guy, they're the only good ones." Junior said, placing his hands over his face. "Anyway, I don't even know Roman. We used to run a few heists together, and then we stopped. Especially after that fiasco at Mi-I know you." He pointed right at Nora as he spoke, which kind of creeped her out a bit.

"Huh?" She was more than a bit confused, although her stomach was starting to sink.

"What's your last name?" Junior asked. Yep, her stomach was sinking alright.

"Valkyrie." She said, the recognition in Junior's eyes worrying her, as was the confusion in Yang's.

"Oh god, you're Locke's kid." Junior said, Nora not liking how he said Daddy's name, and especially his explanation of who he was to Yang and Neptune. "Locke Valkyrie was some guy I knew, back in the day. He was basically a guy who knew a few tricks, and managed to pull off a few robberies in the past. We met in Mistral to rob the Central Bank, only things went kind of down the toilet-shoulda expected that when the de Rais guy and his little goon patrol got involved. I knew we should have gone for those casinos in Atlas, then again I would have lost my head."

"You're dad's a crime boss?" Neptune asked, almost sounding a bit scared of her.

These fabricated lies that Junior was peddling would not stand! "No! He works in labour relations, although it's mostly to do with the-"

"Dust industry?" Junior finished, although he didn't sound sincere at all. "Yeah, after we basically changed to snatch the money and run, god I remember Roman pissing himself when Gus pulled that knife on him, we all went our separate ways. I invested in property and businesses, Roman got sold down the river and was sent to jail, Gustav de Rais ran off and got tracked down and killed by said guy he sold down the river, and Locke went into 'industrial relations'. The rest are either dead or in jail."

Nora knew what Junior meant when he said industrial relations, and it wasn't that whole boring story about meetings and negotiations and preliminary agreements. He meant people who beat up workers who tried to form unions, or who were organising strikes, and scaring off people trying to investigate them. Daddy worked in Atlas and Mistral a lot, but Nora had always thought, well hoped, that it was all just to do with people being unhappy with their conditions and such.

It did explain why Daddy never took papers with him, or did much writing or typing, for his job. Nora remembered wondering if he did bad stuff, when she heard someone say that he had 'blood money' and that someone should tell the authorities about him, which made her ask him about whether his work was illegal or not.

_"Nora," A ginger-haired man, with a twinkle in his emerald eyes, said to the young girl sat on his knee. "Daddy's work is perfectly legal. It's just that, sometimes, he does action which are within the law, but can be called illegal when placed in a certain combination. Now who wants pancakes?"_

_"I do! I do!" The eight year-old almost screeched, from her adorable panda costume, with its own little hood. She got it because she wanted to match with Ren, and both their mothers had already cooed at how the both of them matched._

_She knew that Ren's dad was just being grumpy, apparently he was like that a lot, when he said that. Daddy was too cool to be a lame villain who brutalitises people._

Nora remembered, back when she was something like three or four, moving to the village she called home. The Valkyries used to live in Vale, but then Daddy insisted on moving and they ended up in a settlement right near to Vale, which she didn't really mind. It was where she met Ren, who would become her best friend in a way that stuffed toys couldn't really be like, and he was never mad when she did stuff that others would complain about as well.

He'd not even be mad about this, because she was going to have to tell him, but she knew someone who would be.

_Blake's going to hate me. _Nora realised. She thought Blake would never forgive her for the bow thing, but she did, only this was way way different. When her leader made that speech about leg-breakers and such, Nora had been afraid that she was going to accuse her Daddy of being that, only it would have been the truth. If she found out about how all of Nora's toys, dresses, sweets and other stuff came from being mean to the Faunus and other people, with all the times Daddy mentioned work for the SDC, she'd probably be unable to look at Nora without thinking she knew something.

She'd be like the other friends Nora tried to make before Beacon, they'd get tired and leave. Nora didn't like thinking about this stuff, it made her sad and gloomy, rather than cheery and fun.

It made her Not-Nora.

"Yeah, crack a few skulls, and you get a pretty penny." Junior said, Nora barely hearing him talk. "Last I heard, your pops had knocked the last few competitors and has franchises of leg-breakers all over Vale. Pretty sweet deal, you get all the reject and unstable powdered and crystal Dust that the SDC can't send out, but there's a big black market out there. All you have to do is keep people in line, and accept being replaceable. Maybe that's Roman's dea-"

"Junior. Shut up." Yang warned, sounding deadly serious, before she wrapped an arm around Nora. "Nora, she won't be mad with you." She said, pulling her close, doing that motherly thing she was really good at.

"We don't know that. I like being friends with Blake, she likes to tell me about her books, and she doesn't get mad when I jump on the bed lots." Nora had a lot more stuff she liked about Blake, but there were too many for her to say out loud. "She'd forgive me, if she wasn't getting way too into this." She murmured, not liking what happened to her leader and friend over the past few days

"You've noticed it too, right?" Yang asked, obviously guessing that her partner was letting her guilt turn into obsession. "We had to be there for her, or she'd just go charging on her own."

"I know, and things were fun until now. But, what if she isn't better after this? What if she keeps on ignoring everything else, when she hears this?" Nora asked, concerned for her friend letting her fear of the past turn her into someone she wasn't.

"Look, we don't even know if it's true, if it is then we don't have to tell her until you're ready, and we don't have to say anything now." Yang said, making Nora look at her face to face, which was kind of difficult when Nora was so short. "Either way, she won't be mad, I promise." She added, with that smile that made people think things were going to be a-okay.

"Oh, you know just what to say." Nora cooed, feeling her good mood return, as she rushed to keep the happy train going. "Bartender! Bring me pancakes or other flatcake-based goods, it is dinnertime and there is no Ren to complain about this." She commanded, pointing right at Junior, who crouched down at those words, pulling up a box of something and then a microwave. Taking the box apart, he showed Nora what was in his hand.

"Sure, why not. Hope you like crepes that are either scorching or lukewarm." He replied, the microwave's buttons mostly busted-up, leaving the crepes about twenty seconds. "It's a good thing you're Locke's kid, otherwise I'd need to make sure none of Blondie's friends were cops, or knew cops. That'd be awkward, trying to keep you guys quiet, if you know what I mean."

Neptune chuckled at that, where he just kind of looked awkward at Nora's brief mope-session, but it was super-obvious that he had been scared by those words. With a ding to show that they were done, Junior took the steaming crepes and handed them over to Nora, who took them eagerly, while Yang motioned to her fist at Junior. _How do you like that, Ren? People can have pancakes for dinner! Well, it's after dinner, and they're crepes, but that's not the point._

A musical tone added some atmosphere to Nora's devouring of the steaming crepes, which seemed to horrify Junior. "Hold on, my Scroll's ringing." She said, opening up her Scroll, before her eyes widened. "Dad?"

"Hey Yang," A fearful voice cried out, Nora guessing this was one of those moments where her Dad had his apparent fear of Yang having horrible taste in men. "Why is Ruby telling me that you're seeing boys without their shirts on!"

"Because we're in love!" Junior cried out, a wide grin on his face. It seemed like he was eager to jump on the bandwagon he was hearing. "Me, her, and all fifteen of our mutual adult-male lovers." He added, motioning to his goons, who understood his signal.

The sounds of cheers from the men didn't help, as Neptune turned dark red and Yang's face was an unnaturally ghostly image. She glared right at Junior, while Nora wondered if she would need to do something. "No, Junior. Shut up. My Dad is super-protective over-"

"I knew it!" He screeched, as those twins could be seen having a giggle. Nora could just see a finger being wagged at Yang. "Young lady, when I'm back from this mission, we're going to have a talk."

"You're embarrassing me, Dad. It isn't like that, Junior and his goons are just being jerks because I totally wrecked them all a few months ago." Yang explained, before realising what she had just said, her father stunned into silence. "Oh crap." She moaned, pulling her head back as Nora decided she needed to save her teammate.

"Mr Xiao Long, there's an explanation for this." Nora said with a solemn tone, wrapping an arm around a humiliated Yang. "Junior is acting for a girl named Militia, who is jealous of your daughter for winning the heart of Nora Valkyrie, who is me." She explained, pointing a thumb towards herself with a bright smile.

For a few seconds, everyone was very quiet. "Oh, you like girls, Yang. Or girls and boys." Taiyang said, finding everything but the Scroll screen to be of the utmost importance. "I think I've been overreacting a bit, you and Ruby being away from home. You're adults, and I do trust your judgement, and I think I've just been a bit nervous because of stuff. I'll be on a mission, shouldn't be too long, and then we can have a nice chat, Yang. Mostly about your girlfriend, and why you never told me about her. Pleasure to meet you, Nora, be kind to my little dragon." He said, before ending his call.

As the Scroll turned to black, the entire club fell into silence, as if waiting for some great roar of fire to follow up with their imminent demise, with even the twin girls looking conflicted about whether to save their boss or themselves. For the sake of a joke, they may have doomed themselves to a butt-whooping the likes of which had never been seen.

So it must have been a relief to them, when both Yang and Nora burst out laughing. The girl in red, from Nora's tears of joy, seemed to blush at Nora's story of passion, romance, and betrayal, while Neptune proved that there were shades of red that mankind didn't know existed. At the laughter of the two girls, Junior found the confidence to laugh with them, and his goons joined in one by one, and soon Nora found that everyone was sharing in the joy of the two girls at the hilarity of what had just happened.

"Oh, Junior, I'm going to murder you later." Yang said, between guffaws, which got Junior to stop and the two girls to laugh even harder. "For now, I'm going to learn the plans of some bad guys, plan for that plan, and then have a nap. After that, the first chance I get, you're dead." She promised, before giving Nora a look that said that she could join in as well.

Knowing that they had learnt everything that they could, the three of them departed from the club. From there, they just had to wait for the others to contact them at the agreed time, or before if they needed help, and then either go home or go and rescue the others from those who had tried to capture the three of them. From a distance, Nora could hear Junior screaming about the need for 'better preparation' and 'enough firepower to make Ice Palace look like a cardboard box', which only made Nora anticipate her next trip there with Yang.

It sounded like it was going to be fun.

"Hope Strawberry Stealth is having better luck." Neptune said, hopping onto Bumblebee with relief.

"Nora, we have to make sure that Blake lets you name everything in this team, from now on." Yang admitted, giving the hammer-wielder a thumbs-up. "I'll let you decide the second date." She added, winking at the shorter girl.

How could Nora really reply, but with uproarious laughter? She bet Ren wasn't having this much fun.

* * *

Ren didn't think it would take this long to find the base.

Maybe he was too used to reading books, and watching Nora's shows, where the scene would often just jump to the base being found. Even if it included them searching for it, the clues would often appear, or the aimless nature of the majority of time wasn't there, unlike reality. Most of it had been spent learning of hearsay and rumours, most of the time coming from people giving way too much bravado, or police officers trying to turn a sliver into something more.

Still, they finally managed to find the warehouse that the White Fang would be meeting in, and they could see a pair of Faunus being granted entry by a tall, grey-haired figure in a nice suit, with only one bat ear to match his human ones. Ren, for the sake of his relatively good mood, did not think much of how that man had come to only have one of those ears.

It was just him, Blake, and Sun. The groups being let in were in twos and threes, which meant they wouldn't attract that much attention, if all went well. The contacts that Blake managed to procure for Ren had given him the look of a snake Faunus, meaning that the guard wouldn't ask too many questions, if Blake and Sun managed to vouch for him where his disguise could be caught out. It was one of the few times that he was thankful for Blake's past in the White Fang, with her knowledge of how these things played out.

A quick check-up managed to get the three of them in, despite a brief moment of the man leering at Ren, and Blake's Faunus ears didn't hear anything being said to the radio. _It looks like we're in. _If he didn't look confident, it was more than just his cautious personality getting the better of him. He wondered if he shouldn't have just gone with Club Calamity, to lessen the pressure.

Then again, who would make sure that Blake wasn't getting obsessed, if not him?

"I don't get it," Sun said, holding the Grimm mask with barely concealed distaste. "If you're doing what's right, why hide who you are?" He asked, looking confused at what he likely saw as hypocrisy.

"Anonymity. They probably don't want people to raid their homes, or their family and friends to get abused. Plus, it's easier for the police to arrest you on gut feeling alone, if they know your face." Ren replied, using the same logic that most people using masks for crimes probably did.

"That happens for a lot of them already, it's to make sure they can be useful in a variety of ways. The Grimm design...that's different. It's a symbol. Humanity thinks we're monsters, that we're Grimmspawn, so we put on the face of monsters, to show what they made us into." Blake replied, her voice conveying the sadness she must have felt having to wear the mask again.

"Kinda dark." Sun commented, which Ren kept from openly agreeing with.

"The person who started it was a dark person, someone who used to be kinder than he became." Blake replied. She didn't show it, but he could tell that this was personal to Blake, the person likely being someone she knew.

"Sunshine and rainbows with you, huh?" Sun muttered, as the three moved to the actual meeting spot. Slotting on the masks was easy, and Ren's vision was barely reduced by what looked like thin slots to see from, and he could easily navigate his way towards the warehouse floor.

Entering the room, Ren wondered if he really should have been surprised to see that the room was nearly bursting with recruits, almost drowning in the sounds of numerous conversations all happening at once. The contrast between the recruits and veterans couldn't be clearer, the uniformed soldiers standing at attention, barely speaking to one another, while the recruits came in all shapes, colours, and sizes, with more horns and antlers in a single place then Ren had ever seen outside of news reports on Faunus protests.

_How many Faunus are thinking of taking that last step? How many have? _Ren thought to himself, unable to help being aback at the number of people ready to fight for a group like the White Fang. He saw people as young as Ruby being ready to join in this war, likely without any training whatsoever. _What made them go to this limit?_

His thoughts might have gone on, during the wait for the speech by the leadership, when he heard someone calling to him. He couldn't tell by them using his name, being referred as just 'you guys', but it was clear that the two recruits approaching the three of them, Blake giving him and Sun a look that told them to remain calm. The both of them probably didn't suspect a thing, and Ren guessed that they just wanted to talk to those who they thought would become their comrades.

"Hey, you guys here to sign up?" The male asked. He was a deer Faunus, with white hair to match his antlers, and was wearing the most ridiculous mixture of blue shirt with bright red trousers that Ren had ever seen in his life, removing any authority the mask might have given him. "Aqua's been telling me to do it with her for a while, I decided it was time to do it." He explained, apparently having never heard of small talk.

The girl, this one a rabbit Faunus like Velvet, only hers were grey with a scar along the left ear instead. It clashed a fair bit with the glasses she wore over the mask, and the blonde hair that was tied into a ponytail. "Topaz isn't the type to brag, but he punched some punks in the face. They were pulling on some poor guy's horns, while robbing the place." She said, saying her words with distaste.

"Why didn't he just call the police?" Ren knew enough to ask the question sarcastically, as if the idea was a joke rather than curiosity. That got both Aqua and Topaz laughing, the latter patting Ren on the shoulder.

"Good one. They'd probably just arrest him for public disturbance, with all that complaining, realising that was what got me here. So what made you guys sign up?" Topaz asked, thankfully not looking directly at Ren.

"Lots of things." Blake said, before she went on. "I started in one of the smaller movements, a bit before the White Fang went militant, my parents were worried but grew to be proud of me. We were peaceful, we did our marches, we set up food programmes for homeless children, and we even had people taking up legal cases in some moments. Then, after the police would do nothing about drunks wanting to smash a few Faunus homes, we decided to have a little march. I don't suppose you've ever been to Atlas?"

The two Faunus grimaced at that, Aqua being the first to say something. "I thought protests needed permission there?"

"Not at that point, back then it was just the police waiting for an excuse to forcefully break things up during the march. We went down, and this was after that mine collapse, so we joined a few others, and do you know what they did?" Blake asked, so bitter that Ren could tell that she was speaking from experience, even if the details were changed.

"What?" Topaz asked, when it took all of Ren's own willpower to not do the same.

"They set dogs on us. They kettled us, told us to leave, and then set dogs on us after a few minutes." She replied, her hands gripping themselves tightly enough that her nails must have been close to drawing blood. "After that, we decided to strike back a bit. We did the police's job for them, we graffitied a few bigoted shop-owners' windows, and we made it clear that we were reaching the breaking point. We knew it meant nothing, but it made us feel like we were doing more than nothing. After a few years, my parents got interned for 'aiding terrorists' by helping a few teenagers not get jailed for life, the group was added to the banned list, and I now live with my aunt."

"That's rough," Topaz said, scratching the back of his head and looking down. "My stuff seems a bit we-"

"Don't. Your experience was bad, others having something worse doesn't improve it." Blake spoke sharply at first, but then moved for something softer. "It's the smaller things that build into something big." She said to herself quietly, Ren putting a hand to her shoulder.

"The stop and searches when you walk down the road, the force used when you're 'loitering', the parents telling their children to stay away from the Faunus if they don't want to be hurt, the police who don't even try helping when it's a Faunus getting abused by crime." Aqua said, sounding just as angry as Blake did. "Not to mention the humans who tell you that you're not welcome with their eyes, when they got scared of using signs."

"Why did you two sign up?" Topaz asked, his voice suggesting that he wanted to move onto a topic that was slightly less depressing.

"Scarlet's more following me, even if my aunt told him not to in her over-protective way. Lie here is a bit scared. He kept looking for police, after an...incident. He doesn't talk much anymore." Blake said, playing her part perfectly.

"Sorry, man. We're not letting them get away with this." Aqua promised, sounding as determined as any of Ren's friends would be, had something bad ever happened to him.

_This is a powderkeg. It's been getting ready to blow, and we keep lighting matches_ . Ren decided. He had heard about ho the White Fang emerged from abuse, and that many of their members had faced abuse, but he hadn't thought it would have been as widespread today as it might have been some decades ago, when the victory of the Colourful Movement ended the 'relocation' efforts. _How many people here have these stories? Better yet, how many of these people are the White Fang using for their plan?_

The voices became silent, when a lone figure walked onto the stage. He was tall, muscular, and had enough scars and tattoos for Ren to guess that he was a fairly high-ranking figure in the White Fang, enough that the soldiers tensed at his presence, almost expecting him to declare that they had some sort of mission. His mask was large enough to cover his entire face, unlike the mere eye covers that the new recruits got, or the masks that protected the upper-half of the soldier's face.

"Thank you all for coming. For those who will be our new brothers and sisters, there will be a special comrade of ours who has been lending his hand in many missions." He said, the side of Ren's eyes recognising the man walking onto the stage before the other recruits did. "Through him, we shall attain the revolution that we have all been fighting for. With him, we shall reach the day that we have been waiting for." He declared, motioning to Roman Torchwick.

At the sight of the criminal, and worse the human, the crowd of recruits began to show their anger. A chorus of jeers and threats poured over Torchwick, who embraced their hatred and played the actor receiving applause, which only made the crowd even more furious with him. The only thing that was likely keeping them from charging the stage was the fact that the soldiers were stoic throughout the whole thing, staying at attention, although a few gave their comrade some arm-waves and cheers, showing that they knew of the surprise far beforehand.

"Thank you, thank you." Torchwick said, waving to the crowd. "Oh you're too kind."

"What's a human doing here?" Someone ahead of Ren, Blake, and Sun cried out, sounding mortified at what they were seeing.

"I'm glad you asked, my deer." He replied, his pun making the jeering even louder. "I'll admit, if you told me I'd be doing this last year, I'd call you crazy. After all, are humans not scum, me being the prime example? I don't even hurt people for some idealistic motive or reason, just to acquire money and nice things, as my associates who aren't dead may attest to. Yet, surely you've all wondered something deep down inside, the thing that scares you the most?"

_What's he doing? _Ren wondered, trying to understand what made Torchwick think he could win over the crowd.

"The governments, the Crowns, the military, the police, and even the combat schools. What do they have in common with one another?" He asked, the crowd in silent contempt, waiting for his answer. "They have power. Power to insult you, power to beat you, and even the power to kill you, if they so wished. Only, their flimsy idealism forces them to find a reason to do this to you, which mainly that you're Grimmspawn, you have some sort of 'feral state', and that you're all somehow lesser beings. And they can do this, because they have power over you, and let me tell you something.

Until I came into the picture, you were no closer to that kind of power than you were ten years ago. Now it's the same with me, all of these sources have power over me, and only my skill at running and hiding has prevented my death. So, we have a common enemy, who has something that neither of us has, and they all have a vested interest in keeping us down. Do you know what that means, if all those institutions have that kind of power over us, and can use it how they wish?" Torchwick asked, motioning for the crowd, having gone from open contempt to confusion, for an answer.

"It means that justice, as we know it, is a lie." He finished,

"Is he going somewhere with this?" Sun asked, sounding confused. Ren understood, however, as a few of the recruits began to nod, and open hatred became neutrality, that he was going somewhere with this. He could even tell that it would be a place that he didn't want to think about.

"A century ago, it was justice to have you sent off to some rock in the ocean to starve and die in. Forty years ago, it was justice to leave tens of thousands in a giant tomb, buried alive. As of now, in many of our Kingdoms, it is justice to lock people up without trial for a bit of time because they have antlers, another pair of ears, or just the wrong kind of eyes, and don't think it's justice to be excluded from society because of it. Justice is whatever those in power say it is.

They call it justice to abuse you because they know the truth, and so do you," Torchwick paused, letting the suspense hang in the air for a few seconds. "They know you're stronger than them. You can see in the dark, your senses are better, and many of you have certain abilities that a human could only dream of having. So they need to break you, to prevent survival of the fittest from bringing them from the top to the bottom, and then they call it justice, when it's just them taking all the power and saying they deserve it more. When you say you want justice, you mean you want the power to decide what is right. Right now, I'm hearing from you that you want humans to taste a bit of the dirt you've swallowed for centuries."

"He's right!" A voice from behind cried out, getting a fair few cheers and nary an objection.

"I don't give a damn about my fellow man. I remember when the White Fang came to me with their plan, oh ho their plan, to show humanity what their power really is, and what happens when you force an entire race of people to have the level of disobedient dogs their whole life. I signed up, because I'm a selfish bastard, to destroy all these institutions, to show them where their precious justice is, the noble hypocrisy that makes them so-called better than me and you. Their little doctrine makes them pests, and I happen to be a very good exterminator.

So join the White Fang. Work with me, and I can show you just how 'mighty' these powers really are. For example," With an elaborate click of his fingers, the cloth with the White Fang insignia was removed, and the Atlesian Paladin that Ren heard about was revealed, only with White Fang symbols painted all over. "According to Atlas, and the Schnee Company, this is the next generation in fighting the evils that haunt our world.

Well, if that's the case, then my employer didn't see why a spare few couldn't be used to correct a few wrongs. Stick with me, kids, and we can get Frost Schnee and his whole pack of leeches and bottom-feeders facing one of these, in their precious little Ice Palace." The widespread chuckling disturbed Ren, especially as one of those potential victims was his friend, as Torchwick commanded the emotions of the crowd that loathed him seconds ago.

"Work with me people, and we can bring an end to the lies. Work with me, and we can become the masters of the new world. Work with me, and show humanity how it feels to fear the brick through the window, to not know when the next meal is coming, hearing of how this family member or that friend didn't quite survive their time with the authorities." A manic look took hold of Torchwick, almost looking genuine. "Work with me, and show mankind how it feels to wear the chains!" He cried out, the leader of the White Fang group raising his arm to show that the speech had ended.

An uproar erupted from the crowd, all cheering on Torchwick and the cause that they thought he espoused. The soldiers rallied to his points, likely going on the script given, and Ren could tell that whatever was being planned, it just gained some extra hands. Sun looked uncomfortable, Blake was appalled at what she was seeing, and Ren could barely contain his horror at what was happening around him. _He's got an army, all ready to die for the dream, while he hides in the back and laughs at the destruction._

"Thank you, that all came from the heart. Take bow, wave at audience." Torchwick managed to actually gain laughter from the crowd, with that routine. "Now then, your brothers and sisters know what's coming next, and have been prepped. We move to South-East Vale today and tomorrow. Those who want to stay here are welcome, you still have a part to play, so long as you agree to fight when the revolution comes. For those who want to be a bit more pro-active, this is your arsenal, and I welcome you to show me how the Faunus in Vale fight for the power they desire."

As the crowd cheered on the cause, Blake turned to Sun and Ren, Topaz and Aqua already moving forward. "We need to move, say we'll be staying. Say that you have sick relatives, they're less suspicious of that." She instructed, Ren guessing that Faunus were less likely to attain insurance to pay for hospital treatment.

"All new recruits, move to the right." The leader commanded, motioning to the right of the room to make sure everyone knew. Most of the recruits moved like a tide, almost pushing Ren to the front, amid brief apologies about accidental shoving, while there were a spare few moving to the exit where the man with a single bat ear was. They gave the same reason as Blake instructed, mostly over family health issues, responded with nods and instructions being given later on.

Blake had yet to move, likely as none of them would want to lose the other in the crowd, where they could be ambushed or confronted by some overly-violent figure offended by their not going to South-East Vale, or even Ren losing the mask and someone realising that he wasn't a Faunus. They remained still, mostly moving back slowly, to avoid looking like they were running, when Sun began to speak.

"They see us." He warned, motioning to Torchwick and a very small girl with tri-coloured hair. Unlike the smiling girl, Torchwick was anything but happy, marching over from the stage with a glare, and some of the soldiers seemed to notice who he was looking at.

They needed to move fast, if they wanted to avoid a big fight, or being captured.

"Not in the dark," Blake said, her hand moving to Gambol Shroud. "Grab onto Ren and lead him out of here. He won't be able to see either." She instructed, Sun nodding at the command. Ren quickly realised that she was going to shut down the lights, and prepared himself.

As quick as lightning, she fired a round at the control panel on the other side of the room, as darkness enveloped everything. Sun grabbed Ren's hand, and the latter was barely able to keep up in the frenzy that occurred, as many were screaming about a police raid and worse, mere sounds to accompany the feeling of smashing into several fleshy bits of solid matter.

"Don't let them get away." Torchwick demanded, as the sound of the Paladin being activated overcame any scream of panic. The Faunus must have known where he was pointing, or made an educated guess based on who was running, as grasping hands almost grabbed at Ren at multiple points. Only what Ren assumed was Sun pulling out Ruyi and Jingu forced the recruits back, only an escape route would be needed.

"Sun, Ren, the window!" Blake shouted, Ren feeling himself being dragged in a certain direction. Seeing a brief glimmer of light from the outside, Ren found his feet and began to run with the two Faunus, matching their speed and jumping as he heard them do the same, readying his Aura for the impact with the window. He preferred not having to explain to Nora why he had cuts all over.

With the sound of the barrier ahead breaking, Ren felt the air in his face and he and his partners left the darkness behind and entered the warmth of the moonlight, wasting little time before they ran ahead. From behind, he could hear the roar of a war-machine coming to life, its purpose changed from protection to destruction, using all of its power to end them. Not even taking a moment to bask in their escape, the three made their attempt to flee from the chaos that would soon be following them, as he avoided turning back to see the wall behind be demolished by a vengeful bandit, searching for blood.

_I should have just been a poet. This never happens to poets._

* * *

**The next chapter should be up in a day or two.**


	14. So We Can Paint The Town Red

**Okay, here comes the fight chapter, Torchwick against BRNY and SN, big war-machine against six Huntsmen and Huntresses in training, who will win? Actually, to spoil things now, Torchwick wins and kills them, Weiss dies of amnesia, Jaune and Ruby are mauled to death by a wild Zwei, and a grief-filled Pyrrha marries Cardin and stays at home with their six kids. That's how Rearranging the Board ends.**

**I'm lying, obviously, so read on to see the exciting battle. Hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Roman should have expected that this would happen. He was having a nice time, made a very good speech (admittedly written by Neo, who Roman guessed had issues), and had even been close to nabbing three of the kids who had wrecked his plans at the docks. So naturally, the universe saw him having something good and decided to spreads its shithole and let loose all over him.

For all their happy little claims about being able to see in the dark, the White Fang were next to useless in actually going after the people who were going to ruin their plans. The closest anyone got to catching someone was that masked guy, Diego something, when he went after the only human in the group, and even he failed to acquire a hostage to force them into compliance. Neo was the only one on the ball, yet again, as she managed to help him get into the Palathing and do something.

As he saw the three leap out from the window, he forcefully smashed his way through the wall of the warehouse and moved to generally try and catch, crush, and/or kill the people he was chasing. He'd try to keep one as a captive, probably the cat, but it was too late at night for Roman to really do anything about caring enough to not kill the other two, so he would use the giant death machine in the way that God intended him to.

Murdering his enemies with extreme brutality.

"Okay, you little brats. Let's see you mess things up this time." He muttered to himself, seeing the three rats leap onto the roof of another warehouse.

Seeing them leap onto the roofs of the city, Roman could guess that they were hoping to try and reach a place where he couldn't get them, either trying to get back-up at the same time or just get close to the authorities. It would be a cold day in hell that some dumb cop could catch Roman Torchwick, especially when he had this giant robot, but he had little interest in fighting a growing number of weird kids.

Running down the street, feeling the force of each step that the robot made, Roman managed to quickly meet their pace. Simply reaching out an arm and grabbing one was out of the question, seeing as it'd involve having to go right into the buildings themselves, and he could guess that Cinder wouldn't be happy with hearing about the attention that he may gain from doing such a thing. He needed to sacrifice short-term for the long-term vision, however annoying it was to him.

As if they could tell, the three of them began to move further away from his reach, probably using the breather to contact their little buddies. _Oh you think you're clever?_ Roman saw red, at that moment. He was willing to do anything to force them to move. _Let's see how clever you can be, once I force you down._

He pressed a few buttons, with the picture of their function displaying on each one in a happy turn of events, and the missile launchers were activated, a flashing blue message box telling him so. Another few button-presses had them aim right at the three punks on the roof, who Roman could tell despite distance were pissing themselves in fright, with nowhere to go but the roads. It was only the appearance of Neo, on the communications channel, that stopped him from firing.

"Oh hello Neo, how are things?" He greeted, feeling in a much better mood than before. Neo rolling her eyes told him everything he needed to hear. "Yeah, they would be confused. Just make sure they know we have more of these, if things go south. Which they won't, now that I'm about to end this little issue."

Neo nodded, before she pointed at the flashing screen to her left, and thus his right, and Roman remembered that she had been the one to instruct him on how to use the thing. "Well, I need to do something, I need them off the roofs. Using the arms would only attract attention." Roman said, raising his voice at her clear disapproval of his methods.

He pretended that he didn't immediately realise what was wrong with his new method, especially when he saw her partner in crime raise her left eyebrow.

"Don't take that tone, of course I knew that it would have the same result. I was just considering it." Roman replied, not liking the tone she was taking with him.

She was right, which made it more annoying, since the Atlesian military would probably not take too kindly to his activities. Cinder was already unhappy with their presence, having them investigate the disappearance of one of their prototypes would probably make her more than a little but unhappy with Roman. He wasn't just fighting a bunch of schoolkids, he was also fighting against the high odds of him either dying for the cause, or becoming more of a cost than a benefit.

He knew what happened to those kind of factors, just ask those poor minions of Junior's or the White Fang.

Pulling the missile launchers back, Roman at least felt some relief at seeing his prey head for the seedier districts of Vale. The roofs were often far lower, less stable, and had less people giving a crap about damage, meaning that he could have greater freedom of movement. Seeing the little ragtag group leap down to the roads, Roman couldn't believe his luck, as they all but asked him to murder them.

"Gotta go, Neo. I'm going on a little pest-extermination." He said, the tiny girl waving him goodbye. After all, who was he to deny such a request?

Roman could have sworn that Junior's club was up this street, keeping it in mind to visit the place again, if he and the place survived the whole plan that he was a rook in. Either way, Roman kept his focus on closing in on the two Faunus and other guy, the last not being someone he really remembered, not like the chick who almost broke his spine, or the guy who humiliated him, or Red, and almost grabbed hold of a few.

Almost catching them, he could barely hear one of them crying for help to their friends, which made Roman smile of all things. _Oh good, bring more people. It'll only increase the death toll, when I'm done._

Seeing all this carnage and panic, all orchestrated by him, made Roman feel nostalgic. It was like he returned to his roots, where he destroyed things and killed people for the sheer love of getting paid large sums of Lien to do so, rather than having to hide in the shadows and listen to others talk about their plan. If he had to hear Cinder talk about how every damn little thing was according to her plan one more time, he was going to eat his own cane.

Here, it was just him, some people in his way, and a machine designed solely to wipe out his enemies. Upon seeing them leap towards the highway, probably assuming that they could lose him, Roman decided to show another feature of the Atlesian DeathTron, making the giant metallic beast bend its legs and leap forth and land right on the same highway. With the three in sight, all of them standing on cars, he charged forth again.

A simple run, on a busy highway, naturally led to more than a few automobiles getting kicked around and rushing to avoid getting crushed by the strange new vehicle on the road. As one particular minivan got punted off the highway to nowhereland, Roman had to chuckle to himself. _Sorry, Billy, your parents died after their car was kicked across town by a giant robot. Look on the bright side, though. You've got a great story to tell everyone else at the orphanage._

Just as he was getting into a nice mood, another call was being made to him, the face appearing being none other than the Faunus who introduced him to the crowd. "You know, there's a million and one infomercials about chatting on the phone while on the highway." Roman felt compelled to say, hopefully educating his advanced peon.

It didn't work much on the Faunus, whose name escaped him, who seemed slightly panicked. "We need to inform the Commanders of this, the authorities know that we are in the South-East of Vale, it is only a matter of time before they realise that we are at-"

"Shut up, I need to concentrate on this. Just keep the plan going, in fact, make it go quicker, now that time might be working against us." Roman commanded, guessing that only those three knew, meaning that he only needed to take them out of the picture. "Where's Neo?" He asked, knowing that the White Fang preferred her to yours truly.

"On an airship, she took a few of my men." The Faunus Roman chose to name Diego replied, still wearing the stupid mask.

"Good, she knows what to do. Just follow your instincts, that's what animals do, and it suits them well enough." Diego responded to Roman's wit with the middle finger, and then cutting off communications with him. Roman almost respected that, for the sheer lack of fucks given.

Further contemplation whilst on a chase would need to wait, if the trio on a single motorbike was anything to go by. The way to remove them was easier said than done, which was to just smash a car onto the bike and then let scientific forces do the rest. Roman made to smash into more cars, forcing them to turn and twirl towards the reinforcements for Team Give Roman A Migraine, a small cluster of flying cars heading right at them.

In a pesky turn of events, the blonde who was driving the bike was good with it, dodging each car that crashed towards them. Once they were out of the way, the ginger girl who reminded Roman of someone leapt out from the side and had used her pulled-out hammer (the pain likely being the cause of the memory) to slam onto the ground and propel herself into the sky. As she did that, and thus having caught his attention, the blue-haired guy had managed to stand up and ready his own weapon.

Aiming his gun, he fired three shots of varying success, with one enough to spark off some warning beeps about damage to the pilot container. With that, Roman using the cameras on the back, he could see the guy turn the gun into a guandao and leap into the air, aiming his weapon straight and piercing it right at the robot. It was just a few inches from fully breaking into Roman's little room, but it was too close for comfort, so Roman moved to jerk the guy of-

Shake the guy off! That's what he meant. The stress was getting to him.

"Okay, calm down, it's nothing major, just a minor cut in the defences. Just shake it off." Roman realised the shitty pun he just made, and sighed with a shake of his head. "I hate myself sometimes."

All of a sudden, as Roman tried to remove an irritant, he felt his war machine get slightly pushed back by two kamikaze golden images. Thinking nothing of it, Roman worked to finally throw off the blue-haired guy, sending hi flying right at the monkey Faunus who appeared to have been trying to hit Roman to save his friend. Roman restrained the urge to guffaw, when he saw the two kids smash right onto one another and plummet down from the highway to who the hell knew where.

_And nothing of value was lost._ Roman thought to himself, his standard comedy being one of the things that got him through the ordeal he was in. Still, he had one down and only needed to remove Kitty-Cat and Guy Who Was At Docks But Can't Remember Who, and then he could fall back and let damage control fall to someone else.

Only, the same girl who went flying in the sky had finally landed, right in front of a rapidly approaching giant robot. What made Roman worry was the fact that this girl was smiling in a way that brought back bad memories of plans going south, and the fact that she had a grenade launcher in her hand with who knows how much Dust in each round.

The slight glow he could have sworn seeing come from the launcher didn't help the bad feeling in his stomach, and it didn't help that the two rounds she fired were glowing as well. On the other hand, he had a military project designed to fight all sorts of Grimm, and was probably designed with pesky foreigners and their own machines in mind as well, which made the threat of two grenades seem much less in comparison.

Shoving down his worry, Roman increased his speed and prepared to crush the insane girl under the boot of his machine. A little bit of revenge for that 'batter-up' crap she pulled on the docks.

_Wait, her last name isn't V-_

As the grenades to his left detonated, any thoughts he had were replaced with internal and external howling of fright, as the Paladin was thrown to the right and sent flying off the highway at a worrying speed. Amid the beepings and warning symbols, Roman ignored the fact that he got the name right, and instead focused on trying to make sure that he was crushed under the wreckage if he didn't get the landing right.

Thankfully, he had enough quick thinking to activate the emergency straps and tilted the machine enough that it went from falling on its right side to spinning enough that it would land upright and without any major damage to the thing. Even if he landed it on both feet, or maybe because of it, he wasn't a physicist, the force was enough that his head almost slammed onto the roof despite the emergency straps. Still, a groggy feeling wasn't that bad, compared to broken bones.

"Urgh, highway vehicle chases. I thought I left this stuff behind at Mistral." Roman muttered to himself, removing the emergency straps that kept him on his seat, and quickly noticed the four in front of him.

With him, was a prototype machine of death, designed to assist fully-trained Huntsmen in butchering the Grimm, and a few hours of lessons on how to handle the thing. Against him, four teenagers who were in their first year of school, and half of whom he only really needed to take out, although all of them would be better. The battle sounded like a piece of cake, if he hadn't already had a few plans foiled by them already. This was going to be a challenge.

Luckily, Roman Torchwick did not get this far by running away from such things.

"Okay kids. Let's see if you're all that." He said, activating everything that the machine had to offer, ready for the fight ahead.

* * *

They needed a distraction, and fast.

Yang wasn't stupid, she could tell that that thing had been designed to fight more than your average low-level Grimm, or a few terrorists. That thing was a small army in its own right, and she wasn't going to let her or her friends get injured or worse because they let themselves get cocky around that giant doombot. They already lost Sun and Neptune to the great unknown, barely hearing them land on the ground safely, and she didn't know when they would be arriving.

Knowing her partner, however, Yang could tell that Blake already prepared for this kind of scenario.

"Nora, switch to the ice rounds." She commanded, the little destroyer of worlds nodding at the orders of their dear leader.

As they scattered from the numerous bullets being launched at them, some getting a bit too close to Yang for comfort, Nora managed to replace her normal rounds with the special Ice/Water combination grenades she purchased. Nora's weapon was different from Ruby's, especially in how their Dust worked, as Ruby firing an Ice bullet would freeze the area around it, while Nora's more blew up and fired numerous tiny ice shards into people's bodies at best.

So, when those grenades hit their target, they did something different to the standard fiery boom. The lack of destruction not being that great for BRNY, it did have the impact of creating a nice little mist to confuse Torchwick and give them some cover on the open area they were in, instead of them having to rely on the pillars holding up...you know, the road. Already, Yang could see that the robot was trying to track them down to little actual success.

The motion trackers came in for that, the little red lasers searching for any sign of their movement, so that they could be riddled with bullets. Nora was the slowest, so she moved to the back of the machine, waiting for her chance, while the rest of them entered position and waited for Blake's signal to strike. Yang had never been more thankful that Blake had been convinced to try out the Xiao Long/Rose method of naming team moves, instead of just using lame numbers, now that the chance was there for them to use it to take down Torchwick.

Blake summoned three shadows and sent them to move around the mist, close enough for the Paladin's sensors to think that they were real and to fire on them, but far enough for Torchwick to not see that the images were just that. Yang tried to guess the rate of fire between a first and second on that warmachine, estimating that it was a mere two or three second between those two, making as fighting it as hard as it looked. If only she wasn't the type to run away from a right.

"ThunderStorm!" Blake shouted, as the team moved into position. Nora fired her rounds right at the back of the Paladin, preoccupied with fighting shadows, and quickly grabbed its attention, as it prepared to fire on her.

That was when Ren fired StormFlower's bullets right at the bottom of the cockpit, causing a stream of red light to turn back into nothingness, and for attention to go back to Ren, where Nora then managed to fire her normal grenades right on the cockpit of the Paladin. Attention came back to her, despite two more ruined sensors, as rounds were fired right at her as she managed to meet them with her own explosives. The distance may have been too far for her Semblance, and she lacked the time to use it on her grenades, but the speed of her rate of fire met the power of the Paladin and created a draw.

It was a short draw, since the force of the clashing explosions were getting closer and closer to Nora, as the Paladin used one arm for Nora and one arm at the dodging Ren. Yang was ready to leap in and do some damage, when Blake already beat her to the punch, firing Gambol Shroud at the back of the cockpit and letting herself get sent flying towards her target, readying her blade as she spun elegantly towards the back of the Paladin and sliced at the sensors on the back of the shoulders, the remaining five too distracted with their focus on Nora and Ren.

The two fell back, as Torchwick displayed some brains by turning to the left as Gambol Shroud cut at it and managed to save the left shoulder sensors. Blake detached herself and fled back into the mist for cover, even as it began to slowly fade away, meaning that they would need to act fast to avoid losing cover. There were only three of those sensors left, and then Torchwick would likely be dependent on secondary aiming mechanics, which Yang guessed he would be worse at. It must not have been a long time for him to get acquainted with the controls, which gave them a slight advantage.

If only they could get another chance at those sensors.

From the safety of the mist, Blake turned to Ren and nodded, which made the boy grimace and Yang break out into a grin. Running forth, Ren quickly gained the attention of the sensors which focused their gleam at the Huntsman in training, Torchwick firing his cannons at him, only for Ren to not only dodge the bullets by moving to their right but by also disappearing. Not going into the mist disappearing, but vanishing from sight, leaving the sensors to twirl around in panic.

Ren didn't use his Semblence often, mostly since he hadn't even gotten the hang of it. Nora said that both of them got theirs a year before Beacon, and didn't really know how to use it, with Ren's being the ability to remove part of his presence. Normally, Yang might have told her apparent-girlfriend, which still made her giggle, that such a power was bullshit. Only, there was one big weakness to it that made it understandable for Ren to not want to use it that often.

He could nullify his presence in only one of the five senses at a time, so any trained Huntsman or Huntress could hear him coming if he became invisible, or he could be seen as always if he removed sound. He could only use sound as well, and that was apparently way harder than sight, so he focused more on training it instead of using it. Only, Yang could tell that no one in that hunk of junk could hear things like Ren using another rarely-used item of his.

Like the sword function of StormFlower.

Unable to detect him, even if they might have crossed his path, the sensors went wild and were going everywhere, Torchwick seemed to switch to the idea of just blasting wherever he guessed Team BRNY was. A few times, he was almost close to getting it right, but Yang, Nora, and Blake managed to keep away from his little tantrum. The sight of sparks flying from the left shoulder area made it all worth it for Yang, as the Paladin turned rapidly to try and throw Ren off, and try to see where he was, only to fail.

The front shoulder sensors were the next to go, with a single strike of his blade, Ren removed Torchwick's tracking ability and managed to bring him down. The multitude of sounds of metal meeting metal, and of the Paladin gaining more and more scratches on it, was music to Yang's ears. They were appearing with enough speed that she even wondered if she could keep track, if he was actually visible. It would be the next trick that gained Yang's patented seal of approval.

Amid all the chaotic firing and explosions, Ren flickered for a moment. It was long enough, however, for Yang to see Ren slam his blade right onto the roof of the Paladin, before only the sword remained visible, and the Paladin began to spin erratically to force the sword or Ren off. StormFlower, however, was stuck there stubbornly, and Ren was already in the air and was likely about to do one of his Aura-martial art things that would leave more than a little mark.

The Semblance cancelled, just as Ren's fist made contact with StormFlower and a purple circle expanded from the bottom of the hilt. StormFlower plunged down the Paladin, and struck the concrete ground hard enough to remain perfectly in place. The Paladin, on the other hand, was sparking and beginning to act out, flashing red and spinning chaotically amongst other crazy stuff, which was finally enough to throw Ren off the thing and onto the ground.

"Ren, you okay?" Nora called out, as he plucked his weapon from the ground and ran back into the mist. A good thing as well, since the Paladin was now bringing out missile launchers.

"I'm fine, but I need time. I should have gone for the legs." He replied, grimacing at how that thing was still managing to move without issue.

"No time for getting worried, you just need to get back into the game." Yang said, guessing that Torchwick was only getting madder.

The random missile launches proved her right, as the entire area at least had one missile crash down and cause a bit of wreckage. At first, Yang had hoped that they would be able to just dodge and attack in the mist, until either they got Torchwick or the police arrived, but getting tossed all over the place by the force of the explosion was making that difficult. It was less of a problem for her, Yang feeling her energy begin to rise with each blow, but Blake and Ren were not the best at endurance.

If he could beat them without eyes, then they needed to get rid of his weapons next.

Ren and Nora were the ones causing damage before, only Torchwick would probably just bring back his missile launchers if the slightest damage came to it, and Nora would only get blasted away by the barrage of missiles. The Paladin's speed was another problem, as it could just flee the area if things got too rough, so they needed to make sure that any attack on that missile launchers was the only one needed. Luckily, Yang had a thought.

Turning to her partner, she found Blake thinking the same thing.

"Ren, Nora, keep him distracted, aim for the injuries. Yang, Bumblebee!" The fearless leader of Team Burgundy commanded, the four of them moving out.

With Ren and Nora to gain his attention, Torchwick kept firing his missiles at the pair, who were fleeing and firing back with their best efforts. As they were doing that, Blake fired off the wire of Gambol Shroud and Yang used Ember Celica to throw herself back, building up momentum for when she grabbed the wire and was starting to be spun around. Blake kept twirling her around, as Yang built up more speed and the circle grew wider, until it reached its furtherest length and Blake let her launch forward.

Shooting forward, Yang readied herself to land a devastating punch onto the missile launchers. The cockpit was likely too well-protected, while the launchers were left exposed by the intensity of Ren's Aura attack, meaning that there was nothing to stop Yang from hitting one and then knocking out the other through sheer force. Feeling the air smash right onto her face, Yang readied her left fist and smashed it onto the side of the right missile launcher, sending it flying into the left.

A minor explosion flew Yang back a bit, but Ren and Nora leapt in to catch her, while the sight of seeing both missile launchers break down and a dent on the roof of the Paladin was a beautiful thing to behold.

_Looks like his new toy is kind of fragile in places._ Yang thought, a small smile gracing her face. "Great workout." She said, standing up and giving a thumbs-up to the rest of the team.

"This is probably a prototype, we're lucky in that regard." Blake didn't seem too happy, although that might have been because Torchwick seemed to recover quickly enough to ready his weapons again. "Yang, Nora, go for Bersekers. Ren and I will use Wallflower." She instructed, already rushing forward.

Ren followed their leader, and the two were now rushing forward to fight the Paladin. The mist was now barely covering them, yet it was enough to give the two of them some running distance before Torchwick saw them and began to open fire. Blake using her shadows, and Ren doing some Aura-thing with his legs, began to switch positions from left to right, and kept changing their pattern enough for Torchwick to keep missing the two.

By the time they were too close for him to do anything, Ren and Blake already readied their weapons. Even if Ren disliked the sword function, and changed StormFlower to its original form, his weapon still had enough force to do some damage to the Paladin's right leg, as did Blake's blade on the left. It wasn't enough to bring the Paladin down, but enough for it to start stumbling, and that was all they needed.

Next, Yang and Nora took the stage to begin firing everything they had the Paladin, more Yang firing rounds from Ember Celica and Nora providing cover fire against the rounds with her freshly reloaded Magnhild. With Torchwick distracted, and probably too mad to really pay attention, Blake and Ren seemed to signal one another to do something else entirely.

"Take that, you big stupid Eyeliner-Using Dummy!" Nora cried out, as the two were slowing being beaten back, which Yang had to rally to.

Blake had passed Gambol Shroud to Ren and started to move, confusing Yang a lot, until she saw that her partner was holding the wire of Gambol Shroud herself. Where Torchwick was likely looking, he couldn't see the cat Faunus wrap the wires around the legs of the Paladin three times before taking hold of it with Ren. With a slight glow of what Yang assumed what Aura, the two pulled and the Paladin began to stumble forward.

Their chance obvious, Yang and Nora bolted towards the toppling robot, Ember Celica and Magnhild at the ready. By the time it almost reached the ground, the cockpit was instead met with a powerful smash that was enough to send it back upright with a large dent where the cockpit was, probably breaking a lot of important stuff. The Paladin began rapidly firing all over the place, and Yang almost feared that one of the pillars of the highway was going to get hit by the frenzy.

Only, with the wires of Gambol Shroud back in the weapon, there was nothing stopping the Paladin from marching towards the two heavy-hitters with ill intentions. Yang and Nora charged again, ready to knock down the fracturing machine, only for a powerful left kick to send Yang flying back, only to see a right fist rush down to Nora, who barely pulled up Magnhild in time for her to have some defence against it.

Yang slammed right onto the highway pillar, feeling her whole body become electrified in agony, enough force added to that attack that she found her body attached to the pillar and slowly detaching itself over time. It didn't stop her from hearing the cries of her friends, as Ren rushed over to Nora, and Blake had to distract the Paladin with her shadows, now that the mist was all but gone.

"Nora!" Ren cried out, Nora giving a thumbs-up in reply.

The scene might have been great to watch, had it not been followed by a blast being just close enough between the two that Ren was sent flying back. Yang couldn't see any blood, from where she was struggling to free herself from, but Ren's attempt to stand up did not suggest that he was fine, especially when Nora had to drag him away from Torchwick and his Paladin.

By the time she finally freed herself, Yang found herself plummeting to the ground, landing with a crack. Her whole body screeched out in pain with each movement, her mind begging her to just lay there and let the others handle it, only getting louder when she spat out a few drops of blood and felt her vision flicker into darkness for a few seconds. She still carried down, using all of her might to stand tall and breathe normally, knowing what would come next.

_Oh hell yes,_ Yang thought, basking in the feeling of sheer raw power flowing around her body, the warmth of her hair glowing bright as day, and her insides going from tattered ruins to a roaring engine of pure energy and force. She flexed the fingers of her hands, letting herself feel how much power she held in her fingertips, and how much she wanted to just unleash on the closest thing possible. _How long has it been since I let loose like this?_

"Yang!" Blake cried out, her eyes pouring with relief. From the second she saw the glowing hair, Blake probably guessed that Yang's Semblance had just kicked in hard, and that things were about to get...explosive.

Nora, upon seeing that Torchwick's Paladin had just turned to the glowing girl, ran over to Yang's side. She herself was surrounded by a faint white glow, which only made Yang keep on smiling her special smile, one that she rarely ever showed Ruby, the smile of a predator that was about to rip apart and dismantle its prey entirely.

"Hey, Yang. I don't think we really used Berserkers, did we?" Nora asked, swinging Magnhild with a lot more speed than before.

"Nope, that's something we can correct now." Yang replied, slamming her fists together, the resultant shockwave enough to cause the Paladin to register the impact.

Torchwick's machine moved to deliver a powerful left punch, which Yang met with her own right hook, added with a firing of Ember Celica, the two fists clashing with one another. In a mere second, a once powerful tool enough to battle a Grimm was a mere collection of scrap metal of varying sizes, all from a single blow. Torchwick seemed smart enough to try and beat a hasty retreat after that, the Paladin too fast for Blake or Ren to try and catch up with enough to stop it.

Too bad his ego was too obvious.

The sight of Nora bolting after him, firing round after round ahead, the force enough to slow down the Paladin, was enough to force Torchwick to try and deal with her. Down came another punch, this one with all the force that the Paladin could likely bring to the table, backed up with by multiple rounds of its bullets, the sight enough to force Blake and Ren to look away, unlike Yang. She wasn't going to miss this for the world.

As the dust cleared, all that the three of them could see was the Paladin, the next generation of military technology, desperately trying to escape the one-handed grip of Nora Valkyrie. Yang didn't need to guess that the girl was enjoying herself, as she began to twirl in the same spot and spun the Paladin with her, the machine's grinding almost sounding like a cry of agony at how it was being manhandled now.

"I'm Queen of the Castle! You're a dirty rascal!" Nora sang, to the choir of a Paladin turning at her right hand, the left still holding a now-glowing white Magnhild in its gun mode.

Nora's Semblance came in handy here. If Ren's was removing part of his presence, Nora's was making hers louder, with the ability to up physical strength by up to tenfold, according to the measuring equipment before it broke. She could do the same with Dust reactions that she was near, turning an explosion into something that could wreck buildings, although it took time to infuse that kind of strength. Normally, she just needed to hold it, and wait for the amplifying to increase from double to ten times, and she needed to be close to really make it way stronger.

It was like the foodfight. A mere watermelon hammer, with a Semblance like that, was enough to send Yang and Jaune right into the sky. She was aiming for Pyrrha, but a well-placed dodge allowed the champion to avoid it, and instead had a clashing Yang and Jaune take the hit instead.

_How that boy didn't break anything, I'll never know._ If she hadn't heard him scream so much, Yang would have feared the worst, and that was just with a watermelon that Nora had. An Aura-infused strength, increased tenfold, and even something as big as that Paladin was no great challenge.

Nora simply stopped and gave a firm tug, using all of her Semblance-boosted might, and the arm was ripped out of the Paladin. The doombot spun about on the ground, barely able to stand itself up again, without the use of his arms. It wasn't as clean as Yang's strike, with the Paladin keeping half an arm attached, but it got the job done and left Roman Torchwick's Paladin armless.

Yang guffawed at her own internal pun, her mind racing at the energy she had.

Skipping back to Yang, Nora managed to reach her in time for the two of them to remind Torchwick whose town he was messing with. He got it in his head to try and punt the two with his precious Paladin's right leg, the ground smashing with each step, as Blake and Ren didn't even bother trying to help where the situation was under control. Bathed in yellow and white light, Yang and Nora met Torchwick once more, blow for blow.

Well, Nora decided to turn Magnhild into its hammer function and Yang used Ember Celica, but the principle was the same. To keep the fight going, Nora merely used the head of Magnhild and Yang used the lowest setting possible, which was still more than enough to seriously smash a hole on the right leg of the Paladin, slowing it down enough for any retreat to be difficult to pull off. If either of the two were going to let Torchwick try that crap again.

It was time for the ultimate move for Berserker formation. Using a thumbs-up to start each other off, Yang readied her hands to act as a platform for Nora, who happily leapt onto the Yang's hands and prepared Magnhild for its part, the weapon glowing brightly. With all of her might, Yang threw Nora into the sky, who promptly activated her hammer, creating enough force that Yang could hear cars screeching and turning on the highway once more.

With Torchwick trying to move his Paladin, now starting to break down under the punishment it received, Blake and Ren were about to move to strike when Yang called them over. "Guys! You need to get me to build some momentum here!" She commanded, her voice carrying enough weight that the two came over to her immediately, without question.

From the sky, it looked like Nora had just stabilised herself, and was about to drop down on Torchwick. Blake fired Gambol Shroud again, and Yang took hold of the end offered and began to build up some running distance, so that some tension on the wire could develop. Ren grabbed on as well and did some Aura trick, Yang recognising it as the one he used on StormFlower earlier to make it stronger, so that Yang could stretch the wire out as much as possible.

With the energy she had, with no signs of stopping, Yang soon was on the other side of the area they were in and looked to the soon-to-be-destroyed Paladin that was slowly stumbling away. The thought of Torchwick being unable to escape brought an even larger smile to Yang's face, unable to wait for her and Nora's little combo to kick in, as the wire of Gambol Shroud felt as tense as it ever could be. She gave a signal, and both Blake and Ren pulled the wire back.

Using the left part of Ember Celica, Yang fired herself across, creating even more speed to go with the force of Blake and Ren's push on the tense wire. Her speed wasn't as fast as the spinning Nora, a pink circle shooting down from the sky, but her distance was shorter, meaning that the two should strike down at the same time as the other. With a burst of energy, enough that the air around her burst into flames for a brief moment, Yang readied herself for a powerful right hook right at the cockpit.

You know, when you get an Aura-infused explosion directed at one point, and then amplify that reaction by ten, there is likely going to be a large amount of destruction. The same can be said for someone who can convert damage to power, and got a hell of a lot of injuries, all focused on one punch, So the question lies in what would happen if two of those attacks were used on the same target, at the exact same moment, on two different points.

The answer is that there would be one destroyed target, along with enough force from the impact to cause the entire highway to shake as if an earthquake had just hit.

Nora and Yang made it out fine, the two being strengthened by the sheer strength of their Aura. Roman Torchwick, on the other hand, had shot out from the back of the cockpit and was lying in a field of burnt and dented scrap metal, struggling to pull himself up from the ground, using his cane as leverage to stand up tall. His suit was covered in soot and blood, his nose was bleeding heavily, his right trouser leg had a dark patch that could be seen on black from a distance, and he spat out a medicine cap's worth of blood.

"Just...got this cleaned." He said, his care-free tone undermined a bit by how he had to fight to get those words out.

Yang decided to finish the fight once and for all, unleashing a fireball the size of Torchwick right at him with a left jab, despite some call from Blake. It would have made sure that Torchwick stayed down, by the time the cops showed up, only for some chick to come falling from the sky and block the blast with her umbrella. Yang could see that the girl had a weird look, with two different iris' and three different colours for her hair, along with a smug look that Yang wanted to smack off.

Team Burgundy followed her, as the mysterious girl met their challenge. Nora swung and struck with her hammer, only for each of her blows to be dodged with casual sophistication, met with a jab on the neck with her umbrella, causing Nora to stumble back and hold her neck to regain her breath. Ren tried to gain a hit with StormFlower, only his movements were slower than usual and allowed the girl to dodge it just as easily, and reply all the same strike.

Only her jab was right at the stomach, and caused Ren to howl in agony, only for a kick from the girls with her heels on that exact same spot to follow it up. The normally stoic man fell to the floor, almost sobbing, from the sounds of what Yang was hearing, as the girl then beat a retreat, Blake too busy with trying to make sure that Ren was alright. Torchwick, even when looking fucked up beyond all belief, managed to tip his hat towards them as mockingly as a half-dead man could.

"Ladies, and gentleman, I think we've had our fun. Time for you to sort out your boo-boos. Neo, if you would." He asked, the effect of the careless man ruined by how the blood seeping down from the face stained his shirt.

Neo, if that was her real name, took three steps back and gave a stage-bow to BRNY. The way she smiled as she did was what angered Yang, the bruiser readying Ember Celica to smash the two of them down and end this damn night already. _We're doing it like that? Alright then, let's see how smug you look when you're six feet under!_

She ran forward, fist at the ready, and slammed it down on the girl, who didn't even try to stop her. The reason for the inaction became obvious, when both Neo and Torchwick shattered into hundreds of glass-like pieces, and an empty space took their place. Yang could guess that, despite her strength, she hadn't punched them hard enough to erase them from this plane of existence, and that it was instead some freaky thing that that Neo girl could do.

The sound of an airship flying off clued Yang as to where they actually were, Torchwick and his minion looking down on them as the ship flew off. The only comforting thing about the sight was that Torchwick was apparently laying on Neo as if he needed her to stand, which showed that Yang had at least left her mark on the plans of the enemy. Slowly, Yang's urge to hit something faded, the energy running through her veins simmered down, her body returned to a normal state (bar a few injuries) and her hair felt less like it was burning with power while her eyes were probably not red anymore.

She was calm again, just like Dad and Qrow taught her to be when using her Semblance.

"Great, he's got a new henchman, and she might be tougher than he is." Yang muttered, moving back to her team.

Moving back to help Ren, she could see that Blake and Nora were already trying to keep him upright. Nora was the first to ask the question on everyone's mind. "Ren, are you-"

"I'm fine, just a few bruises. They'll clear up in the morning, with enough Aura attention." Ren replied, forcing himself to take a few steps, before he managed to walk on his own. He looked around the wreckage that they had caused. "All in all, I'd say that went rather well." He said, raising an eyebrow at Yang and Nora, who could only giggle in response.

"We need to find Sun and Neptune," Blake said, looking back at the direction where they fell with concern. "Who knows what could have happened to them."

"I heard them land, I don't think they'll be that badly wounded." Yang said, putting a hand to her chin, trying to look like those TV detectives from the old people days. "Still, I don't want to think about what might have happened to them."

Sun and Neptune were cool guys, even if the latter was a baby when it came to going fast. They didn't deserve to get hurt, or become vulnerable, because they helped them try to do the right thing. Sure, they could take care of themselves, and Yang did hear them not scream out in pain when landing and their Aura was strong enough that they weren't badly hurt, but it would be better safe than sorry.

Whatever trouble they could be in, they were going to get help.

* * *

"They're probably fine, right?" Neptune asked, probably feeling a little bad about how they gave up.

"Yeah, probably." Sun replied, his sort-of confidence matched by the sound of sirens. Of course, they could mean anything, but he chose to think that they were there to arrest a caught Torchwick.

After their...defeat at the highway, they had landed right in front of a nice little place called 'A Simple Wok' and chose to quit while they were ahead and enjoy the hard-earned meal of potential victory, or weep in sorrow over their failure. Sun and Neptune did think about arriving to help the others out, but the sight of Nora high in the sky and laughing maniacally gave them enough comfort to judge better.

That, and the sheer shockwave that sent the sign of the wok flying off, only reattached as of a few minutes ago.

"Rough day?" The owner said, both Haven students nodding in affirmation. "I can understand the feeling. These days, if you run a store, you get robbed, and if you drive a truck, you smash into girls with the strength of ten bears. What happened with you two?" He asked, motioning at the rugged hair and clothing the two had. Sun was actually surprised that the old man hadn't said anything before.

Maybe Vale was just a crazy kind of place.

"Giant robot of death piloted by a known criminal, he probably robbed your shop too." Neptune replied, managing to appear as if he hadn't screamed in horror with Sun, as they were thrown off the highway.

"Hope your friends manage to catch him." The wok-owner said. He probably wanted to make sure that none of his other businesses got robbed again, apparently running like seven of them. Sun could barely keep up with the assignments giving to him, let alone run seven things at the same time.

"Well, we could have, were it not for you two giving up." Yang's voice replied, sounding very angry. For a brief moment, Sun wondered if that was his conscience telling him off, only for him to turn and see four recognisable and very upset people, looking like they just came out of a warzone.

"Oh hey guys. Did it go well?" Sun asked, trying to lighten the mood. They didn't seem to appreciate his comments, Blake's glare being the worst of it all. "I'm guessing he got away."

"We're not forgiving you for this, you just left us. Like a bunch of...leaving-behinders!" Nora said, crossing her arms and scowling at them. It looked like Ren had some kind of injury, from the way he was standing, only that seemed to be the only injury, which was a great relief to Sun. He cared about these guys, even if he kept a cool front, and he knew Neptune did as well.

"Guys, could we really have done anything? Whatever made him escape you guys, who can beat down giant robots, and we weren't going to do much." People unsure. "Look, we were going to buy Sage and Scarlet some stuff from here, let's get you guys some stuff too. As an apology."

"Don't worry about paying, anyone who beat up that Torchwick person is a friend of mine." The old man said. His eyes almost opened in recognition of Blake, pointing right at her. "Oh, I remember you from the book store. Your copy of Forbidden Samurai Lu-"

"That'll be fine." Blake replied with a blush, cutting him off before he could talk about her porn. She then turned on Sun and Neptune, her lack of happiness kind of obvious. "Just because you're getting us food, doesn't mean we-"

"What about chicken dumplings?" Neptune asked.

"Are the types to hold grudges!" Yang declared, wrapping her arms around the two of them. "Come here, besties."

"Do you have Roast Duck Soup?" Ren asked, already breaking down the unity of Team BRNY, as a mere nod from Sun had the quiet guy breaking ranks. "Yeah sure, I forgive you."

"Guys." Blake mewled, before she smiled in relief at Nora's crossed arms and pout. "Thank you, Nor-"

"He also does desserts in another shop, like pancakes." Sun said, almost enjoying how quickly the little bruiser (or destroyer, to be more accurate) changed moods.

"Let the bromance continue!" She cried out, leaping over to them and standing next to Ren, the old man grabbing some other chairs for them to sit together on. Blake, seeing her team mutiny against her, looked at a smiling Sun and looked to be conceding defeat to her fellow Faunus.

"Sweet and Sour?" She asked, sounding like she wanted to salvage something from the failed confrontation.

As the six of them enjoyed their meal, Nora explaining about how she already ate before, and then ordering a Pork Stir Fry, Sun felt good about himself. Sure, the bad guy got away, but now they knew where he was going to set up his plans, no one was dead or wounded, and they were having a nice time at this conveniently placed wok. All in all, it seemed like a pretty good night-out for Sun.

Next time, however, he'd prefer a trip to Vale that didn't involve so much explosions and fighting.


End file.
